Life lessons from Lal Bahadur Shastri

Life lessons from Lal Bahadur Shastri

News: Marking Lal Bahadur Shastri ji’s birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu paid tributes to the former PM at Vijay Ghat on 2 nd October.

What can we learn from Shastri ji?
• He protested against the caste system. As he didn’t believe in the caste system, he gave up his surname as a young schoolboy. The title “Shastri” was bestowed upon him after graduating from Kashi Vidyapeeth, as a mark of scholarly achievement. During the adverse situations too, he came forward, made himself accountable and showed the signs of a leader who led from the front.
• He was a true patriot from a very tender age. As a young boy (16), he was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his call to join the Non- cooperation movement.
• He believed in simple living and high thinking. When he married, at the insistence of his in-laws to accept dowry, he took a charkha and some kind of cloth. Even when he passed away, he reportedly had no property in his name and left behind a few books and dhoti- kurta.
• Shastri ji resigned as the railways minister following a rail accident at Ariyalur (Tamil Nadu) in 1956, out of moral responsibility.
• When India was facing food crisis after US refused to send wheat, Shastri ji had first appealed to his children before making a public announcement to go on a strict fast. Only after he was convinced that children in the family could observe fast, he appealed to the people of the country to go without food for some time.
• Shastri ji had a Chevrolet Impala car for official use, which his son once used for a drive. When Shastri ji learned about it, he asked his driver to check the distance the car was used for and later deposited the money in the government account.
• He was a very decisive leader who had complete faith in his military personnel to go out for a full-fledged war against Pakistan in 1965. He was hailed as a hero for successfully leading India in the Indo-Pak war.
• On a visit to a textile mill as Prime Minister, when the owner offered to gift him expensive sarees, Shastri insisted on buying and paying for only those he could afford. He also had an undue promotion for his son overturned.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri ji had more than thirty years of devoted service behind him. Over the course of this time, he earned a reputation as a man of exceptional integrity and skill. He was a man of the people who understood their language; he was modest, tolerant, and had great inner strength and resoluteness. He was also a visionary leader who moved the nation forward.