13 Mind-Blowing Facts About Dr. Manmohan Singh

Dr. Manmohan Singh as we all know him was an Indian economist and politician, who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014.
But here are some of the interesting facts most of us won’t know about.

1. A member of the Indian National Congress, Singh was the first Sikh and non-Hindu prime minister of India.
   
   

   source: Wikipedia Commons
2. Lost his mother at an early age and was raised by his grandmother
   

   source: Stars Unfolded
3. His birthday may not be his real birth date :
   His grandmother gave his date of birth as 26 September 1932 while getting him admitted into the school, though she was not sure of it.  And it became his official date of birth.
   source: News On Air
   
4. He walked miles every day to go to school
   There was no electricity or school in his village. He used to study under the dim light of a kerosene lamp. He would often attribute his success to his education.
   source: Wikipedia Commons
   
5. Manmohan Singh can’t read Hindi:
   Although he can speak Hindi, he cannot read the script of the language. Even when he was leading the country, his speeches were written in Urdu because he is proficient in it.
   source: Wikipedia Commons
   
6. He quit the UN to teach Economics at the Delhi School of India
   This was a time when every brilliant economist dreamed of working for the UN.
   Source: Hindustan Times
   
7. Declined an offer to join the government made by Jawaharlal Nehru to honor his commitment to teaching at his college in Amritsar.
   source: Wikipedia commons
   
8. Dr. Manmohan Singh was a shy student while he was at Cambridge:
   While talking about his time in Cambridge in an interview with the BBC journalist, Mark Tully, he told him that throughout his stay at Cambridge, he took cold water baths. Being the only Sikh student, he had long hair and felt a bit shy. He wanted to avoid other boys, who would all bathe when hot water was available. Hence he chose to bathe when no other student would, which was when hot water was unavailable.
   

   source: NDTV
9. He listens to BBC every morning:
   This helped him to respond immediately to the 2004 tsunami crisis, even before the PMO was alerted by the disaster management officials.
   source: Posttoast
   
10. He underwent multiple cardiac bypass surgeries.
    One was right before he became the Minister of Finance and the last one was in 2009
    

    source: Manglorean.com
11. Sanjay Baru has written a memoir on him “The Accidental Prime Minister”.
    The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh is a 2014 memoir by Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru, who was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media advisor from May 2004 to August 2008.
    

    source: onlookersmedia
12. He has never won a Lok Sabha seat:
    But continues to serve as a member of the Parliament of India, representing the state of Assam in the Rajya Sabha for the fifth consecutive term since 1991.
    

    source: TheStatesman

13. He was conferred a Lifetime Achievement Honour by the India-UK Achievers Honours in London for his contribution to economic and political life.

source: Wikipedia commons

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