Social Reformers of India

  Subhash Chandra Bose is fondly remembered as one of the greatest freedom fighters of India, and popularly known by the name of 'Netaji' (Respected Leader). He was strongly influenced by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, and also believed that the Bhagavad Gita was a great source of inspiration for the struggle against the British. Bose was an Indian nationalist, and a prominent figure of the Indian independence movement. The leader spearheaded the revolutionary Indian National Army during World War II. He always pitched for complete and unconditional independence of India from the British Rule. At the age of 16, he became fascinated by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna after reading their works. Vivekananda’s emphasis on social services and reform had inspired Bose and influenced his socialist political ideology. Subhash Chandra Bose’s first act of defiance against the British was in Presidency college, when he assaulted Professor Oaten, who allegedly made anti...

Nehru was an Indian nationalist leader and statesman who became the first prime minister of independent India in 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad, the son of a lawyer whose family was originally from Kashmir. He was educated in England, at Harrow School, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied law at the Inner Temple in London. He returned to India in 1912 and practised law for some years. In 1916, he married Kamala Kaul and the following year they had a daughter, Indira. On 15 August 1947, Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India. He held the post until his death in 1964. He implemented moderate socialist economic reforms and committed India to a policy of industrialisation.  Nehru also served as foreign minister of India. In October 1947, he faced conflict with Pakistan over the state of Kashmir, which was disputed at independence. Nehru sent troops into the state to support India's claim. A United Nations ceasefire was negotiated, but Kas...

Lal Bahadur Shastri, (born October 2, 1904, Mughalsarai, India—died January 11, 1966, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, U.S.S.R.), Indian statesman, prime minister of India (1964–66) after Jawaharlal Nehru. A member of Mahatma Gandhi’s noncooperation movement against British government in India, he was imprisoned for a short time (1921). Upon release he studied in the Kashi Vidyapitha, a nationalist university, where he graduated with the title of shastri (“learned in the scriptures”). He then returned to politics as a follower of Gandhi, was imprisoned several more times, and attained influential positions in the Congress Party of the state of the United Provinces, now Uttar Pradesh state.           Shastri was elected to the legislature of the United Provinces in 1937 and 1946. After Indian independence, Shastri gained experience as minister for home affairs and transport in Uttar Pradesh. He was elected to the central Indian legislature in 1952 and became union minister ...

Nun and missionary Mother Teresa, known in the Catholic church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. Born in Macedonia to parents of Albanian-descent and having taught in India for 17 years, Mother Teresa experienced her "call within a call" in 1946. Her order established a hospice; centers for the blind, aged and disabled; and a leper colony.  In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized on September 4, 2016. Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The following day, she was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Mother Teresa’s parents, Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, were of Albanian descent; her father was an entrepreneur who worked as a construction ...

The fearless queen of Jhansi, Rani Laxmi Bai was one of the leading figures of the 1857 war of independence.Born on 19 November 1828, in Varanasi as Manikarnika Tambe, she grew up to become an icon for the freedom struggle against the British rule for citizens.She married the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842 following which she was rechristened as Rani Laxmibai in honour of Goddess Laxmi on her wedding day. After giving a tough fight to the Britishers, she was killed on 17 June 1988. Her troops whisked away her body so that her last wish of not being captured by the British could be fulfilled. Today Rani Jhansi Museum in the Fort of Jhansi is home to some of the weapons used by Rani Laxmibai and her fellow warriors throughout the Rebellion of 1857. In modern India, Lakshmi Bai is regarded as a national heroine. Statues of her stand guard over Jhansi and Gwalior. Her story has been told in ballads, novels, movies and the Indian equivalent of Classics Illustrated comics. Prime Minister Indira ...