1. K.R. Narayanan was the tenth President of India.
2. His full name is Kocheril Raman Narayanan.
3. He was born on October 27 1920.
4. He was the fourth of seven children.
5. His father was Kocheril Raman Vaidyar.
6. His father was a physician in traditional Indian medicine.
7. His mother Paappiyamma was an uneducated lady.
8. The family lived in a hut at Uzhavoor.
9. They were Dalits.
10. They belong to the Paravan caste.
11. They lived in extreme poverty.
12. Sometimes there was not enough food to serve everyone in the house.
13. But his mother was keen to give him education.
14. He studied at Govt. LP School, Kurichithanam. (Std 1-4)
15. Then he went to Lady of Lourdes UP School. (std 5-7)
16. He walked to school for about 15 km everyday.
17. He was often unable to pay the fees.
18. He could not buy books either.
19. Then he studied at St. Johns High School. (std 8, 9)
20. For his tenth, he was at St. Mary’s High School.
21. He completed his twelfth from C.M.S. College, Kottayam.
22. He worked hard and won merit scholarship.
23. He obtained M.A. in English with a first rank.
24. His family was facing many difficulties.
25. So he started to earn a living as lecturer.
26. Then he went on to work as a journalist.
27. First, he was with The Hindu at Chennai.
28. Next, he worked with The Times of India at Mumbai.
29. He got a chance to interview Gandiji [10.4.1945]
30. He went to England and studied at the London School of Economics.
31. He took his B.Sc in Economics with specialization in Political Science.
32. Thereafter he joined the Indian Foreign Service.
33. He was Indian Ambassador to many countries like Japan, UK, USA, China, etc.
34. He was called “the best diplomat of the country” by Chacha Nehru.
35. As per Indira Gandhi’s suggestion, he entered politics and won 3 elections to Lok Sabha, as M.P. from Ottapalam.
36. He also served as Minister of State in the Union Cabinet with Rajiv Gandhi.
37. Later he was elected as Vice President and thereafter as President of India.
38. He was the first Dalit and Malayali to reach our nations highest office.
39. This life story is a good example that shows how one can rise from poor beginnings through hard work to high positions and inspires us to use our talents effectively.
40. He was married to Ma Tint Tint, called as Usha, a Burmese lady and has two children-Amrita and Chitra.
41. He died on 9th November, 2005.
