Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Indian Republic, was in many respects a true representative of all that is good and worth cherishing in our cultural and social heritage. His contemporaries often described him as a model of simplicity and nobility. He came to be know as "the gentle man of Indian politics." He was born on December 3, 1884 in a middle class family in village Zerabai of Saran district in Bihar. He acquired fame while still in his teens, when as a student he topped in successive exams of the Calcutta University. It was characteristic of Rajendra Prasad to have announced, soon after his election as President, a voluntary cut in his salary. Born and brought up in an orthodox family, in earlier life Rajendra Pd. observed all the taboos in the matter of earning that were the hallmark of Hindu orthodoxy. While studying at Calcutta and later while practising as a lawyer there and in Patna he never ate anything cooked by non-Brahmin. But soon he was to change his entire outlook on coming in contact Gandhiji. In his own right he was also a bit of an educationist. He made thorough study of the current system of education in Indian and could well expatiate on its merits and demerits as also the reforms which he thought were necessary to make it a truly national system for the people's benefit. In 1973 when Gandhiji set up a committee for preparing a scheme of Basic Education along with Dr. Zakir Husain, he was also one of its members. He also wrote a number of important books while in jail during 1942-44. On returning to Patna in May, 1942, after holding the august office of the President of the Republic for over twelve years, Dr. Prasad went straight to Sadaqat Ashram where he had worked earlier as a freedom fighter. He took active part in mobilizing public opinion for self-defense. In the wake of the Chinese aggression of October that year. Dr. Prasad passed away at Patna on February 22, 1963 after a brief illness.