K. R. Narayanan (Kocheril Raman Narayanan) was the tenth President of India. When he became the first Dalit to become President, he broke the glass ceiling. Narayanan was born into a very poor family and grew up there. He had to walk miles to get to school, and when he got there, he had to stand outside the classroom to listen to the lecture because his fees were always due. Even though he had to deal with so many problems, Narayanan got first place in his postgraduate studies at the University of Kerala. Soon after, he moved to Delhi and got a job as a journalist. When he wanted to study economics in the UK, the famous and wealthy Indian industrialist JRD Tata helped him get there. After he finished his studies at the London School of Economics, he was hired as an Indian Foreign Service officer as soon as he got home. During his time in the military, he stood out as one of the best diplomats the country had. Indira Gandhi asked him to run for office, and he was a minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet. He went on to become India’s Vice President and then its President.
Early years and childhood
On October 27, 1920, Kocheril Raman Vaidyar and Punnaththuraveettil Paappiyamma gave birth to K.R. Narayanan in Travancore, Kerala. He was the fourth of seven children born into a very poor Dalit family. His family was hurt by the caste system that was common at the time.
He went to the Government Lower Primary School in Kurichithanam when he was young. In 1931, he went to the Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Uzhavoor.
In 1943, he got his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Travancore, which is now called the University of Kerala. He got the highest grade at university and was the first Dalit in Travancore to do so.
K. R. Narayanan’s Career
When he was done with school, he moved to Delhi to become a journalist. From 1944 to 1945, he worked for well-known newspapers like The Hindu and The Times of India. During this time, he was even able to get an interview with Mahatma Gandhi.
Narayanan wanted to go to England to go to college, but he didn’t have enough money to do so. He went to J.R.D. Tata for help. J.R.D. gave him a scholarship, so he went to England in 1945 to study Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics (LSE).
In 1948, he finished his B. Sc. in Economics with a specialization in Political Science and went back to India. Narayanan’s professor at LSE was the famous political theorist and economist Harold Laski. Laski gave Narayanan a letter to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to introduce him.
When Narayanan went back to India, he met Nehru, who gave him a job in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). Narayanan joined IFS in 1949.
Narayanan was a diplomat for the IFS and worked in Rangoon, Tokyo, London, Canberra, and Hanoi. He was also an ambassador for India in Thailand, Turkey, and the People’s Republic of China. In 1978, he left his job at IFS.
After he retired, he was Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University for a short time (JNU).
In 1980, Indira Gandhi sent K.R. Narayanan to the United States as India’s ambassador. Indira Gandhi’s historic trip to the United States in 1982, when Ronald Reagan was president, was made possible in part by Narayanan. The visit was a big part of making things better between the two countries, which had been having trouble getting along.
Indira Gandhi asked Narayanan to run for office in 1984, and he did so. He was elected three times from the Ottapalam constituency in Kerala, in 1984, 1989, and 1991. He also worked in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet as Minister of State. Between 1985 and 1989, he was in charge of Planning, External Affairs, and Science and Technology at different times.
In 1992, V. P. Singh, who had been Prime Minister, suggested Narayanan for the job of Vice President. On August 21, 1992, Narayanan was unanimously chosen as the Vice President of India. From 1992 to 1997, he was India’s ninth Vice President.
After his time as Vice President was up, he was elected to be the President of India. He took office on July 25, 1997. He was the first Dalit person to hold the most important job in India. He was President for five years, and he left office in 2002.
Works of note
As a diplomat, he was India’s representative in China and the US. During both of his terms, he was a key part of making India’s relationships with China and the US better.
As President, he gave the job a new sense of honor. He wasn’t a “rubber stamp” president, and he used the President’s discretionary powers in a smart way. He told the country why he made the decisions he did, making the President’s office more open and clear.
Personal History and Legacies
During his time in the IFS, Narayanan was sent to Burma. There, he met an activist named Ma Tint Tint. On June 8, 1951, the two of them got married. She changed her name to Usha and became an Indian citizen. Together, they had two daughters.
K.R. Narayanan died on November 9, 2005, from pneumonia and kidney failure. He was 85 years old.
Estimated Net worth
K.R. Narayanan’s estimated net worth is $2 million, and he makes most of his money from being a politician and a diplomat. We don’t know enough about K R Narayanan’s cars or his way of life.
Trivia
His wife was the only person who was born outside of India to become India’s, first lady.