Rajagopalachari
  
     
  Popularly known as "Rajaji," C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor General of India, was an ardent patriot, a pioneering social reformer, incisive thinker, profound scholar and author. He was also an eminent statesman and able administrator. He personified the ideal of simple living and high thinking. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, "Rajaji represents fundamentally the highest type of mind in India."  
  Born on December 10, 1878 in Tamil Nadu, Rajaji had his education in Bangalore and Madras. He qualified himself for the Bar and built up a lucrative practice. He attended the Surat Session of the Congress in 1907. He first met Gandhiji in 1919 and participated in the Non-cooperation Movement in 1920. He led the Salt Satyagraha Campaign in the South in 1930 and was imprisoned for 9 months.  
  Rajaji became the Prime Minister of Madras Presidency in 1937 but gave up office in 1939 following the Congress decision against cooperating with the British for unilaterally involving India in the Second World War. He became a member of the Interim Government formed in 1946 at Delhi. On Independence, he became the Governor of West Bengal. In 1948, he became the first Indian Governor General. In 1952, he became the Chief Minister of Madras as a challenge to fight the communists in the Madras State Legislature. He relinquished office in 1954. He was given the highest National Award of "Bharat Ratna" in 1954.  
  Rajaji was a champion of free enterprise, prohibition and disarmament. He went to the U.S. in 1962 as the leader of the Indian delegation to plead against the piling up of nuclear weapons in the world. Rajaji was gifted with the rare talent of re-telling stories from the epics and the puranas. He wrote a number of books of enduring value as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Gita and the Upanishads. He was an accomplished writer and speaker in English and Tamil.
  Rajaji died in 1972.  
     
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