Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born in Gujarat on 31st of October 1875 into a family of patriots. His father was a farmer and fought for India's freedom from the British. Vithalbhai, Vallabhbhai's elder brother, was also a well-known patriot. He was the Chairman of the Indian Legislative Council.
From a young age itself Vallabhbhai was very courageous and raised his voice against injustice. His ambition was to become a barrister like his brother. He studied very hard and travelled to England and passed the Barrister-at-Law Examination. After he returned to India he setup a practice in Ahmedabad which was very successful and he earned a lot of money.
Around this time the struggle for freedom was gaining a lot of momentum. Gandhiji attended a conference in Gujarat where he met Vallabhbhai and they became friends.
In 1918, Vallabhbhai took the responsibility of leading the farmers of Gujarat. He was very successful in his struggle against the British and became a prominent leader in the freedom struggle.
In 1920, the Congress started the non-cooperation struggle and Vallabhbhai gave up his practice. He setup the Gujarat Vidyapeeth where children could study instead of attending Government schools.
In 1928 he successfully organised the landowners of Bardoli against British tax increases. It was after this that Vallabhbhai was given the title of Sardar(Leader).
In 1931 he served as President of the Indian National Congress. He was sent to jail by the British and freed only in 1934.

In 1942 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was again sent to jail because of the start of the "Quit India Movement".
1n 1947 when India got freedom Sardar Patel became the Deputy Prime Minister. He was in charge of Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of States. He was given the task of organizing 600 states into one nation. He took strong steps like sending the army to Junagadh and Hyderabad to force them to align with free India. It is because of these strong steps that earned him the title of "The man of steel".
Sardar Vallabhbhai passed away in Bombay on the morning of the 15th December 1950.

Jawaharlal Nehru Biography

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), India's first prime minister, was the chief architect of domestic and foreign policies between 1947 and 1964. Born into a wealthy Kashmiri Brahman family and educated at Oxford, Nehru embodied a synthesis of ideals: politically an ardent nationalist, ideologically a pragmatic socialist, and secular in religious outlook, Nehru possessed a rare combination of intellect, breadth of vision, and personal charisma that attracted support throughout India. Nehru's appreciation for parliamentary democracy coupled with concerns for the poor and underprivileged enabled him to formulate policies that often reflected his socialist leanings. Both as prime minister and as Congress president, Nehru pushed through the Indian Parliament, dominated by members of his own party, a series of legal reforms intended to emancipate Hindu women and bring equality. These reforms included raising the minimum marriageable age from twelve to fifteen, empowering women to divorce their husbands and inherit property, and declaring illegal the ruinous dowry system (see Life Passages, ch. 5).

The threat of escalating violence and the potential for "red revolution" across the country seemed daunting in the face of the country's growing population, unemployment, and economic inequality. Jawaharlal Nehru induced Parliament to pass a number of laws abolishing absentee landlordism and conferring titles to land on the actual cultivators who could document their right to occupancy. Under his direction, the central Planning Commission allocated resources to heavy industries, such as steel plants and hydroelectric projects, and to revitalizing cottage industries. Whether producing sophisticated defense matériel or manufacturing everyday consumer goods, industrial complexes emerged across the country, accompanied by the expansion of scientific research and teaching at universities, institutes of technology, and research centers (see Education, ch. 2; Science and Technology, ch. 6).

Jawaharlal Nehru demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm for India's moral leadership, especially among the newly independent Asian and African nations, in a world polarized by Cold War ideology and threatened by nuclear weapons. His guiding principles were nationalism, anticolonialism, internationalism, and nonalignment. He attained international prestige during his first decade in office, but after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956--when New Delhi tilted toward Moscow--criticisms grew against his inconsistency in condemning Western but not communist aggression. In dealing with Pakistan, Nehru failed to formulate a consistent policy and was critical of the improving ties between Pakistan and the United States; mutual hostility and suspicion persisted as a result (see United States, ch. 9). Despite attempts at improving relations with China, based on his much-publicized five principles (Panch Shila--see Glossary)--territorial integrity and sovereignty, nonaggression, noninterference, equality and cooperation, and peaceful coexistence--war with China erupted in 1962. The war was a rude awakening for Nehru, as India proved ill-equipped and unprepared to defend its northern borders. At the conclusion of the conflict, the Chinese forces were partially withdrawn and an unofficial demilitarized zone was established, but India's prestige and self-esteem had suffered. Physically debilitated and mentally exhausted, Nehru suffered a stroke and died in office in May 1964. Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy of a democratic, federal, and secular India continues to survive in spite of attempts by later leaders to establish either an autocratic or a theocratic state.

Adi Sankaracharya was born in the year 805 (AD) and is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers, mystic and poet of all times. His parents were Shivaguru and Shivataarakaa (also known as Aryamba). Sankaracharya's father died at an early age and he was brought up by his mother.

Sankaracharya was very intelligent and learned the Vedas at a very early age.

Adi Shankaracharya was born during the time when Hinduism was divided into various sects and the ritualistic practice had taken a predominance over actual philosophical practice. Shankara, in his indisputable style, set out on a difficult mission to change the outlook of the country and its people by revamping the vast Hindu literature into a simplified and easy to understand form. He reinterpreted the Brahma Sutra, Upanishads and the Geeta.

Shankara wrote on almost all major vedic literature, including Upanishhads, Brahma-suutra and the Gita.
In a short life-span of thirty-two years, Sankaracharya traveled all over India, establishing monasteries, reforming worship procedures in temples, writing philosophical treatises, debating with leaders of other religious traditions and instructing students who flocked to him for spiritual guidance. Sankaracharya attained maha samadhi at the age of 32 in the year 837 AD.