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Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan, also known as JP or Lok Nayak (Hindi for “People’s leader”), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist, and political figure. He was born on October 11, 1902, and he passed away on October 8, 1979. In the middle of the 1970s, he led the opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, whose overthrow he had called for a “total revolution,” and for this, he is remembered. Rambriksh Benipuri, a nationalist and author of Hindi literature, wrote his biography, Jayaprakash. In 1999, in honour of his contributions to society, he received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India. The Magsaysay award for Public Service from 1965 is among the other honours.
About Jayaprakash Narayan
In the village of Sitabdiara in the Saran district of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency of British India (currently the Saran district is in Bihar), Jayaprakash Narayan was born. Located in two states (Bihar’s Saran and Bhojpur and Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia), Sitabdiara is a sizable village that spans three districts and two states. His residence was close to the Ghaghara River’s flood-prone banks. The home would eventually suffer minor damage every time the river was swollen, forcing the family to relocate a few kilometres away to a community that is now known as Jay Prakash Nagar and is located in Uttar Pradesh.
Early Life
He was a Kayastha by birth. He was Harsu Dayal and Phul Rani Devi’s fourth child. His father Harsu Dayal frequently travelled the area as a junior officer for the State government’s Canal Department. Narayan left his village when he was 9 years old to enrol in the seventh grade of the collegiate school in Patna. He had never left the village before. JP stayed at Saraswati Bhawan, a dorm where the majority of the boys were a little older. Some of Bihar’s future leaders were present, including the state’s first chief minister Krishna Singh, his deputy Anugrah Narayan Sinha, and a number of other people who would go on to become well-known figures in politics and academia.
Education
Jayaprakash made the decision to continue his education in the United States after finishing the courses at the Vidyapeeth. At the age of 20, Prabhavati stayed at Sabarmati, and Jayaprakash boarded the cargo ship, Janus. On October 8, 1922, Jayaprakash arrived in California. He was accepted to Berkeley in January 1923. Jayaprakash worked as a mechanic at a garage and a slaughterhouse, as well as picking grapes, laying them out to dry, packing fruits at a canning factory, washing dishes, selling lotions, and teaching to support his education. Jayaprakash gained insight into the struggles of the working class through all of these jobs. Jayaprakash spent a semester studying chemistry at UC Berkeley before being forced to transfer to The University of Iowa due to a fee increase. Later, he was compelled to transfer to numerous universities. He studied sociology, his favourite subject, with Professor Edward Ross’s assistance.Das Kapital by Karl Marx was first introduced to Jayaprakash in Wisconsin. Jayaprakash came to the conclusion that Marxism was the best strategy for easing the suffering of the masses after hearing news of the Bolsheviks’ victory in the Russian Civil War. He read extensively from the works of Indian intellectual and Marxist theorist M. N. Roy. The best sociology paper of the year was his, titled Cultural Variation. He earned a B.A. in Behavioral Science from Ohio State University and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin.