MR. Kocheril Raman Narayanan, President of India
M.P Bhattathiry Mulavana Radhanivas
Mr. Kocheril Raman Narayanan assumed office of the President of India on July 25, 1997. Born on October 27, 1920 in the village of Uzhavoor near Kottayam, Kerala He is the first Malayalee to become President of India.
He graduated with top honors from the University of Travancore with M.A. degree in English Literature. Later, he obtained B.Sc in Economics degree from the London School of Economics with First Class Honors specializing in Political Science.
Mr. Narayanan started his professional career as a Lecturer in the University of Travancore in 1943. Later he worked with The Hindu, at Chennai formerly known as Madras and at Times of India from 1944 to 1945 at Mumbai formerly known as Bombay as a journalist. While a student in London, he served as the London Correspondent of "Social Welfare", a weekly from Bombay edited by Mr. K.M. Munshi from 1945 to 1948.
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1949 and served in Indian Embassies in Rangoon, Tokyo, London, Canberra and Hanoi and held different positions in the Ministry of External Affairs. He taught Economic Administration at Delhi School of Economics from 1954 to 1955. Simultaneously he was also the Joint Director of the Orientation Center for Foreign Technicians. Mr. Narayanan also served as India's Ambassador to Thailand (1967-69), Turkey (1973-75), the People's Republic of China (1976-78) and Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (1976).

After retirement from the Foreign Service in 1978, Mr. Narayanan was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and held this office from January 1979 to October 1980.

Mr. K.R.Narayanan was sent as a political appointee as India's Ambassador to the United States of America in 1980. He held this office very distinctively until 1984. After completing his term as Indian Ambassador to USA, Mr. Narayanan entered politics. He won three successive General Elections in 1984, 1989 and 1991 from his Parliament Constituency of Ottapalam in Kerala. He was Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, the lower house of legislature from 1985 to 1992. During this period he was Union Minister of State for Planning (1985), External Affairs (1985-86) and Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Space, Electronics and Ocean Development and Vice-President of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (1986-89).
Mr. Narayanan was elected Vice-President of India on 21st of August 1992 and served in this position till he assumed the office as the President of India in July 1997. As Vice President he was also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament.

He has been a Member of various Indian delegations to the United Nations General Assembly (1979), the UN Security Council on Namibian Independence in November 1985, Conference of Non-aligned Nations at Harare (1986) and the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the critical situation in Africa in May 1986.

Mr. Narayanan has been associated with several institutions in diverse capacities. He was President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, President of Indian Institute of Public Administration, President of Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Cultures, Calcutta, Patron of the International Award for Young People - India. Mr. Narayanan has also served as Chairman of The Jury of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding; The International Jury for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development; The Advisory Committee for the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award; The Jury for International Gandhi Award for Leprosy; The Jury for Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar; The Jury for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Award for Social Understanding and Upliftment of Weaker Sections; The Jury for G.D. Birla Awards for Humanism, India's Heritage and Culture and Rural Upliftment; and The Jury for Communal Harmony Awards.

As a scholar and writer, Mr. Narayanan has authored four books "India and America: Essays in Understanding"; "Images and Insights"; "Non-alignment in Contemporary International Relations" (Joint Authorship); and "Nehru and His Vision". He has also contributed a number of articles on social, political, international and literary matters in various magazines and periodicals.

He is a Member of the Universal Academy of Cultures, Paris; Honorary Fellow of London School of Economics; Honorary Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore; Honorary Fellow of Center for Development Studies, Kerala. He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1970-72 for study of Pandit Nehru's Non-alignment.
Mr. K.R. Narayanan, The President received the World Statesman Award of The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, New York in 1998. He is also the recipient of several degrees and honors. These include Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa), University of Toledo, USA; Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), Australian National University; Australian National University has instituted an annual "K.R. Narayanan Oration"; Honorary Professor of Bishkek Humanities University (Kyrghyz Republic); Vachaspati (D. Litt) (Honoris Causa), Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi; Doctorate (Honoris Causa), University of San Marcos, Peru; Doctorate of Letters (Honoris Causa), Tribhuvan University, Nepal; Doctorate of Political Science (Honoris Causa), Bilkent University, Turkey.

He is also the Visiting Professor at Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and several other Central Universities. He has also been the Chancellor of Delhi University, Punjab University, Pondicherry University, Assam University, North Eastern Hill University and Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed University); Visitor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University Institute of Journalism, Bhopal; Visitor of Madras School of Economics.
Mr. Narayanan has delivered Convocation Addresses at several Universities in India and abroad. As the President of India he has gone on State Visits to Peru, Brazil, Nepal, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg and Turkey, Austria, France, China and Singapore.
His special areas of interest and Hobbies include Political thought and international affairs, education; philosophy of science and social applications of science and technology; Poetry, Literature and the fine arts; Folk and Classical Music; Walking. Mr. Narayanan is Patron of various social, cultural and sports organizations.

Mr. Narayanan is married to Mrs. Usha Narayanan. Mrs. Narayanan has a Masters Degree from the Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University and her field of specialization is 'Juvenile Delinquency'. Mrs. Narayanan is closely involved in social welfare activities for women and children, as National President of KARUNA, an international organization for the welfare of women and children from 1985 to 1992. She was responsible for building Working Girls' Hostels and Day Care Centers, Potters' Cooperatives and Sericulture projects in Kerala. She is actively associated with women's organizations in India. In addition to interest in landscaping, gardening, orchid cultivation, Ikebana and Bonsai, Mrs. Narayanan has also translated Burmese short stories into English. Most of them have been published in the national fortnightly journal "Frontline". A collection of her translations of Thein Pe Myint's Burmese Short Stories was published as a book entitled "Sweet and Sour" in December 1998. Mrs. Narayanan has also worked with All India Radio (A.I.R.) for many years, translating and broadcasting news and talks for the External Services of A.I.R. They have two daughters, Chitra and Amrita.