Prafull Goradia

on Dec 04, 2021

Born in Bombay on 27 March 1937, Prafull Goradia spent the first seven years of his life in Morbi state where his late grandfather had been Divan, and subsequently, his father, Private Secretary to the Maharajah. Right from his college days, longed to pursue a political career. His first real break came, when, in the late Eighties, L.K. Advani singled him out for some issues of national concern he had raised in letters to newspaper editors, an old hobby of his. Advani advised him to start discussion groups with party workers, and he met Narendra Modi very soon thereafter. Modi, too, felt Goradia should keep in touch with the ideologues of the party. He was elected to Parliament in 1998. As a member, he intervened in several important matters that came up for discussion, making several significant speeches on contemporary issues, participating in debates and contributing to policymaking. He was also instrumental in the construction of forty-nine shauchalayas from his MPLAD Fund. Prafull Goradia has penned several books: Profiles of Tea, The Saffron Book, Hindu Masjids, Muslim League’s Unfinished Agenda, Anti-Hindus, and The Saga of Indian Tea. He has also written over 500 articles on issues of both national and global significance. His letters to editors of national dailies, numbering over 2,800, are useful for transporting contemporary readers over a period of modern India’s political journey. He presides over The Indian School in Delhi which has earned a reputation for offering modern education entwined with traditional Indian ethos, a project close to his heart.