Walking Down The Lane- A Pictorial Tribute to Dr. Rajendra Prasad (The First President of the Republic India)

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Preface In 2009 the government of Bihar decided to celebrate the 125h birth anniversary of the late Deshratna Dr. Rajendra Prasad On that occasion the State Archives of Bihar had exhibited the photocopies of some old and rare records relating to the role and contributions of Rajendra Prasad during the freedom struggle in Bihar. The State Archives had also displayed some rare and significant photographs of the late Rajendra Prasad This event was inaugurated by the Hon able Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Sushil Kumar Modi. The intellectuals, bureaucrats and the common people in large numbers came to see' this exhibition and appreciated the efforts of the State Archives and its staff for arranging this kind of display highlighting the contributions of Rajendra Prasad. It was on this memorable occasion of inauguration that the Hon able Dy. Chief Minister and the then Principal Secretary of Cabinet Secretariat Shri Girish Shankar announced the publication of the available records relating to Rajendra Prasad along with a photo album covering major events of his life and achievements.

We took up this project with all sincerity and earnestness so as to complete it quickly within a reasonable time frame. Since the work of bringing out publications by the state Archives from time to time had almost stopped, there were some initial difficulties in the beginning. But we met the challenges successfully and the results are before us. In 2009 the "Documentation of Records on the Ghadar in Tirhoot (1857) ': compiled by D, Ashok Aounshuman and Srikant, was released by the Hon able Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Nitish Kumar. The present collection of documents relating to Rajendra Prasad is, however, different in one respect from the earlier publications in the sense that it is the outcome of the efforts of the employees and the director of the State Archives of Bihar. We feel gratified that in this way we got an opportunity to pay our tributes to a great freedom fighter and the first President of our Indian Republic.

Although several volumes containing Prasad's correspondence as well as his biographies have been published in recent years by scholars such as Valmiki Chaudhary, RL.Handa, S.M Wasi, KL.Punjabi and KK Datta, no collection of government documents/ photographs have been published so far. Since both as an outstanding .freedom fighter and the first President of Indian Republic Prasad's area of activity was not limited to anyone state or country, documents/photographs relating to him should be available in the various state archives, national archives of India and even archives located outside the country. It is in the fitness of things that the Bihar State Archives has taken the lead in this regard and it is expected that it would be followed by others.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to the Hon able Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Nitish Kumar, Hon able Chief Minister Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, previous Principal Secretaries (Cabinet Affairs) Sri Girish Shankar laws., Shri Afzal Amanullah IA.S., as well as the present Principal Secretary (Cabinet Affairs) Sri Ravikant, I.A.S., and previous Secretary of Art, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sri Vivek Kumar Singh, I.A.S.

I requested Sri Tejakar far, a scholar working in the field of visual history for last ten years, to edit this Album. He is also on the editorial advisory board for production of the album. We extend our heartfelt thanks for his contribution.

As the director of the Bihar State Archives I would also like to express my sense of appreciation and thankfulness to my colleagues Shri Rabindra Nath Baitha, the Assistant Director of Archives, Senior Archivist Dr. fawahar Lal Verma, Dr. Badshah Chaubey, Dr. Chandra Mohan Singh, Shri Sanjay umar Khan, Shri faichand Choudhary, Dr. Urmila Kumari, Shri Uday Kumar Thakur, Dr. Bharti Sharma, Ram Kumar Singh, Librarian of Archives Dr. Nagendra Nath [ha, Shri Ratan Kumar, Shri Sudhir Kumar, Shri Mukesh Kumar, Shri Suryakant Kumar Razak, Md. Aslam, Sarpanch Ram as well as the staff of computer division and preservation section who have given their valuable help and assistance in the completion of this project. I sincerely congratulate them all on this successful Endeavour.

Introduction Dr.Rajendra Prasad (1884 1963) was one of the few persons who had spiritually gravitated towards the leadership of the great Mahatma (Gandhi). For them, pursuing the mission of the Congress was more a passion than an obligation. Addressed affectionately as 'Babuji' by most of his contemporaries Rajendra Babu was distinguished by the catholicity of his mind, simplicity of living and dedication to the cause of the country. Being an intellectual rather, an "organic intellectual': he joined the forces gaining ground in the early twentieth century in opposition to the then colonial power, and, gradually, by his perseverance, patience and courage became one of the most visible pillars of freedom movement.

Later, as the country got rid of the reins of colonial power, 'Babuji' was escorted to become the first President of the Republic of India. He held the authority without ever becoming authoritarian, maintained the dignity of the chair without ignoring the tradition and set an example of how one could negotiate the ups and downs of the long range of space from an interior village of rural Bihar to the position of the first citizen of the country.

Match has already been written on his lift. Here, simply an attempt has been made to present some of his photographs of the period from the 1890s to 1963. These photographs help us in getting glimpses of the moments of his struggle, his thinking and his mindset. Let such moments remain alive and continue to inspire the generations to come in future to generate. their own interpretations and discover appropriate strategies of struggle for the freedom of mart. and society.

All the photographs are included in four sections,' 'Personal Moments - with family and friends ': 'Towards Freedom - with conviction ': "Leading India - Consolidating the Republic': and "Journey's End - Eternal Peace". The first section includes his photographs with the members of his joint family. One can notice him participating in different rituals and ceremonies and playing with his grandchildren on various occasions. It seems that he never allowed his primordial family and village ties to wane in spite of his increasing activities in life.

In the second section, there are photographs (of the period before he became the President of the Republic of India) showing his involvement in the national freedom movement as well as the affairs of the state of Bihar. One finds him interacting with political leaders, British officials, zamindars & chieftains, etc. on different occasions.

The third section "Leadi1:zg India - Consolidating the Republic" contains the photographs of Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of the Republic of India. These photographs are the visual records of his visits to different states (in India) and countries on different occasions. Besides, one also gets a view of the activities of the President in the Presidential house.

The last section contains his photographs (after his tenure of President ship), at the Sadaqat Ashram in Patna, on the bank of Ganga.

We express our gratitude to Smt. Tara Sinha (grand daughter of Dr. Rajendra Prasad), Mr. Tara Sharan Sinha (ex-Director of Bihar State Archives), Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation (Darbhanga, HH Mahendra Singhji of Udaipur-Mewar, MaharaJakumar C V. Singh and Kumar Shivang Vijay Singh (Dumraon), Maharajakumar Indra Vikram Singhji of Rajpipla (Gujarat), National Archives (Delhi), Archives of the Rashtrapati Bhavan (New Delhi), Rajendra Smriti Sangrahalaya (Pattja), Sri Rohit Raje Pawar of Surgana (Maharashtra), Sri Siddhi Shankar (classical vocalist), and others, for granting us access to their collections of photographs and helping us in identifying persons shown in the photographs with Dr. Rajen.dra Prasad. We extend our special thanks to Ms.Shweta Sinha of Mis. Vigyapan flare the beautiful layout design and printing of the book and working with great expertise on the old photographs scanned from originals as well as printed books, journals and news papers.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages