Stories for the Innocent

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as "Rajaji" or "C.R." was a great patriot, astute politician, incisive thinker, great visionary and one of the greatest statesmen of all time. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, hailed as conscious-keeper of the Mahatma. As an ardent freedom-fighter, as Chief Minister of Madras, as Governor of West Bengal, as Home Minister of India and as the first Indian Governor-General of India, he rendered yeoman service to the nation and left an indelible impress on our contemporary life.

Rajaji was closely associated with Kulapati Munshiji and he was among the distinguished founder-members of the Bhavan. The Bhavan had the privilege of publishing 18 books (see page ii) by him so far, the copyright of which he gifted to the Bhavan.

All of Rajaji's works, especially on Marcus Aurelius, the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads are popular. In Ramayana and Mahabharata, he has displayed his inimitable flair for story-telling and applying the moral of stories to the needs of modern times.

Rajaji wrote not only in English but also in chaste Tamil, his mother-tongue. He was at his best as a short-story writer. The present book is a translation of some of his stories which open the window into the unsophisticated South Indian homes and ways of life. The reader will be fascinated by their gentle humour and unobtrusive didactic motif.

Rajaji passed away in 1972 at the age of 94.