Dr Rajendra Prasad was born on 3rd December 1884 in the Ziradei village of the Siwan district of Bihar. He was the youngest of the five children of Mahadev Sahai Srivastava and Kamleshwari Devi. Along with three elder Sisters, Prasad had an elder brother named Mahendra Prasad.
Prasad's mother died when he was just a child, and his childhood was all taken care of by his older sister Bhagwati Devi.
The Path of Rajendra Prasad's education was quite interesting as he went to learn Persian language, Hindi, and Arithmetic from a Maulavi (an accomplished Muslim scholar) when he was just five.
After this, he was sent to Chapra Elementary School and to TK Ghosh Academy in Patna for two years with his brother Mahendra Prasad.
He came in first in the University of Calcutta's entrance exam, and his grades provided a scholarship of Rs. 30 per month.
In 1902, he started his undergraduate at the Presidency College Calcutta in the field of Science. In 1905, he graduated with a first class and later decided to pursue art studies.
Later in 1907, he again scored first division in his M.A. in Economics from Calcutta University. During this whole period of time, Rajendra Prasad was highly active in his social life with other students.
He was an active member of The Dawn Society and a dedicated student in academics and civic activities.
By the end of 1937, he earned his Doctrine in the Law and became a high-profile lawyer in society.
In the beginning, Rajendra Prasad started his career as a teacher in various institutions. He became an English professor and then the principal of Langat Singh College of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. However, he left the college to pursue his legal studies at Ripon College Calcutta.
He also served as a professor of Economics at Calcutta City College in 1909.
Well in law, Rajendra Prasad started his career as a lawyer in the high court of Bihar and Odisha in 1916. In 1917, he got elected as one of the first members of the Patna Senate and Syndicate.
Rajendra Prasad married Rajvanshi Devi in June 1896 at the age of 13 under the Child Marriage Act. He had a son named Mrityunjaya Prasad, who was a political leader too.
Rajendra Prasad was caring and impacted by his family. He also loved his life the way he loved his nation, which made him the greatest of all time in everyone's heart.
While studying in Calcutta, Rajendra Prasad first evolved to the Indian National Congress in the annual session of 1906 as a volunteer.
He officially joined the INA in 1911, when the annual meeting was held in Calcutta. In the 1916 Lucknow Session, he met Mahatma Gandhi and got an invitation to work with him in a fact-finding revolution in Champaran.
The determination of Rajendra Prasad to work with Mahatma Gandhi can be determined here as he left his lucrative profession and decided to work with INA.
In the boycott of western education initiated by Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad took part by convincing his son to drop out of school and join Bihar Vidyapeeth, which was established by him and his colleagues to promote traditional knowledge.
In October 1934, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress during the Bombay session. During his time as the President of Congress, he went to Bankipur Central Jail in Patna Sadaquat Ashram.
He was sent to jail in 1942 and liberated in June 1945 after nearly three years in prison.
Rajendra Prasad was first assigned the President's post of INA in 1934. After this, in 1939, he was again made the President after the resignation of Subhash Chandra Bose.
Again in 1947, after the resignation of J.B. Kripalani, he was made the President, and this long journey as the chief of INA made Rajendra Prasad, a vital element in the formation of an independent India by being the most crucial part of the organization.
Rajendra Prasad also played a great role in forming the constitution of India as he was selected as a member of the Constituent Assembly from 1946-1949.
Finally, he was elected as the President of India by a majority vote in the first general election of 1952.
Rajendra Prasad retired from public life in 1962 because of his ill health. After his retirement, he was honoured with "Bharat Ratna", the Highest Civilian Award.
He wrote an autobiography, which was published in 1946 and some other books included India Divided (1946), Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar: Some Reminiscences (1949).
