Shastri hated publicity. As a result, very little is known about his childhood, education, married and family life. No one has so far made any sincere efforts whatsoever to collect and consolidate his memoirs in a book-form to enlighten his posterity, let alone his contemporaries. The oft-repeated instance of Shastri’s daily routine of crossing a stream to and fro his school is a wrong notion which has been spread by some people who know precious little about him. The book is a first of its kind as never before has any writer ventured to write a book on those facets of Shastri’s personality which are still unknown and are, curiously enough, confined to the four walls of Shastri’s family. The book has within its embrace an exclusive chapter devoted to such events which throw searchlight on his honesty, integrity, his sense of taking quick and firm decisions, his simple standard of living even after occupying the coveted post of the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world, his four-decade journey, in a chronological order, from cottage to cabinet. He belonged to a lower middle-class family and incredibly, could not afford to buy a pair of shoes even. This apart, he could not also afford the luxury of having his photograph when he was a young man. While studying in Kashi Vidyapeeth, he used to work as a hawker selling Khadi from door to door. His is a solitary, any, glorious instance of a Prime Minister who has been written about the least but loved the most. He was born a pauper and died a pauper, being the premier of his country notwithstanding.
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