Imminent personalities of Rajasthan :
Bhairon Singh Shekawat :
The "Hindustan Ka Ek hi Singh" as he is popularly lauded by the millions of his supporters, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is one of the oldest anti-Congress leaders alive in India.He also is one of the most popular politicians in India.
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is a former Vice-President of India. He served in that position since August 2002, when he was elected to a five-year term by the electoral college following the death of Krishan Kant. He served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan state three times, from 1977 to 1980, 1990 to 1992, and 1993 to 1998. Shekhawat was born on October 23, 1923, in an obscure village in Sikar district of Rajasthan. Poverty forced him to quit his education before completing high school, following which he found a job as a police constable.
Ghanshyam Das Birla :
Shri Ghanshyam Das "G.D." Birla was an Indian businessman and member of the influential Birla Family. Birla's grandfather Shiv Narayana Birla wanted to diversify from the traditional marwari business of lending money against pawned items. He left Pilani, his hometown in Rajasthan with a modest capital to Bombay to establish a business in cotton dealership. The venture was successful and he came back to Pilani to build a huge mansion, which still stands by the name Birla Haveli.
Envisioning infrastructural development in his hometown, Birla founded the Birla Engineering College in Pilani among other educational institutions. The college has evolved over the years to develop into one of India's best engineering schools, BITS Pilani. Today, Pilani also houses a wing of Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), a famous residential, public school christened after Birla's family and a number of polytechnic colleges.In 1957, he was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.
Gulabo :
Gulabi Sapera is famous in india as "GULABO" The kalbeliya dancer from Rajasthan .She is part of the international culture and music circuit, part of jazz bands and a performer in films. She is a visiting teacher in Copenhagen, Denmark every year, to train children there in body-awareness and dance. The Kalbeliya Dance has become a Rajsthani exclusive. Invitations from around the country took Gulabo everywhere. She is a woman who has broken down more than the three walls. Gulabo, and many little-known people like her, are leaders in a changing India.
Jagjit Singh :
Jagjit Singh is a famous ghazal singer from India. He was born in Ganganagar, then in Rajputana in British India.
Essentially a ghazal album, it's emphasis on melody and Jagjit's fresh voice was a departure from the prevalent style of ghazal rendition, which was heavily based on classical and semi-classical Indian music. Skeptics had their own reservations, purists scorned it but it was widely successful among listeners and the album set new sales records.
In 2003, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honours, from the Government of India.
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal :
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal is a London-based Indian billionaire industrialist, born in Sadulpur village, in the Churu district of Rajasthan, and resides in Kensington, London.Born in a Rajasthan Agrawal family, Lakshmi spent his intial years in India, living with his extended family on bare floors and rope beds in a house built by his grandfather.
Lakshmi Mittal began his career working in the family's steelmaking business in India, and in 1976, when the family founded its own steel business, Mittal set out to establish its international division, beginning with the buying of a run-down plant in Indonesia.
Since 2005, Mittal has been the richest person residing in the United Kingdom, the richest person in Asia and the fourth richest person on the planet. He is the President of the Board of Directors and CEO of ArcelorMittal; ArcelorMittal is the world's largest producer of steel. In March 2008, Mittal was reported to be the 4th wealthiest person in the world by Forbes Magazine.
Maharani Gayatri Devi :
Maharani Gayatri Devi is the Rajmata of Jaipur and the wife of Sawai Man Singh II. She was born on May 23 1919 as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar. Maharani Gayatri Devi was the third Maharani of Jaipur from 1939 to 1970 and is currently styled as the Rajmata, or Queen Mother.
After India's independence and the successive abolition of the princely states, Maharani Gayatri Devi became an extremely successful politician. When she entered politics and contested the Lok Sabha (Parliamentary) election from the Jaipur constituency in 1962, she smashed all electoral records by winning the largest-ever lead over her nearest, Congress party, rival. She even rose the position of Vice-President of the right-wing Swatantra Party at the national level.
Maharani Gayatri Devi was unfortunately linked up with the violation of tax laws, and served 5 months in Tihar Jail. She retired from politics after that experience, and showed her interest in writing. Maharani Gayatri Devi published her autobiography - A Princess Remembers, written with Santha Rama Rau, in 1976.
Maharani Gayatri Devi was a particularly ardent horse rider. She had one child, Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, Raja of Isarda, who was later granted his grandfather's life as an additional title.
Maharani Gayatri Devi was once honored in Vogue magazine's Ten Most Beautiful Women list. Maharani Gayatri Devi funded and established several schools for girl's education in Jaipur, most prominent of which is the Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl's Public School. She also promoted the dying art of blue pottery in Rajasthan.
Mehdi Hassan :
Mehdi Hassan, affectionately called Khan Sahib and titled as "Shahenshah-e-Ghazal" is a well-known Pakistani Ghazal singer. Mehdi Hassan was born in the village of Luna in Rajasthan, India in 1927 into a family of rich traditional musicians. He claims to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant.
Mehdi Hassans voice and unique performance skills in ghazal singing were unmatched in the world of South Asian music. The 60s and 70s can be named Mehdi Hassans decades, as there was hardly any hero in the Pakistani musical scene on whom Mehdi Hassans songs were not filmed.
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt :
Pandit Vishwa Mohan is an exponent of Hindustani music (North Indian classical music). He is one of the most celebrated shishyas (disciples) of the sitarist Ravi Shankar. He was born in Jaipur in Rajasthan in July 1952.
His major international breakthrough came with the album A Meeting By The River, a collaboration with American slide guitarist Ry Cooder that would be awarded a Grammy award for Best World Music Album in 1994. It is for this album and other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists like Taj Mahal, Bla Fleck and Jerry Douglas, rather than his own unique take on Indian classical music traditions that Bhatt is best known.
He is also a creator of 'mohan veena', named after himself and Vina or Veena, the generic Sanskrit word for a stringed instrument. It is an instrument that appears to be a hybrid of a classical Spanish guitar and a sitar. The Mohan veena sounds somewhat like a Western slide guitar and is played with sitar mizrabs (wire picks) and a thumb pick and a polished steel rod for the slide.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore :
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is an Indian shooter who won the silver medal in Men's Double Trap at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, he was the member of the winning team in the double trap event. He won the gold in the individual and team events in men's double trap at the 2005 Asian Clay Shooting championships at Bangkok
He was a Lt. Colonel in the Indian Army. An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla Pune (N.D.A.)
He won the Arjuna award in 2003-2004 for shooting and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour of India, in 2004-2005. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri, a civilian award from the Government of India, and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), a non-gallantry award for exceptional service, presented by the government. He is the first officer (from the Indian Army) below the rank of brigadier to be awarded the AVSM. At present he is a sports minister in NDA govt.
Smt. Pratibha Patil :
Pratibha Devi singh Patil is the current President of India, the 12th person and first woman to hold the office. She was sworn in as President of India on July 25, 2007.
Pratibha Patil was born to Narayan Paglu Rao on 19th December 1934 at Nadgaon, Maharashtra. She studied at R.R. School at Jalgaon. She received her M.A. from Mooljee Jaitha (M.J.) College, Jalgaon and obtained a law degree from the Government Law College, Mumbai and practised as an advocate in Jalgaon.
In November 2004, eight years after she had completed her term in the 10th Lok Sabha, Pratibha Patil was recalled from political hibernation to become the first woman Governor of Rajasthan.
Smt. Vasundhara Raje :
Smt. Vasundhara Raje former Chief Minister of Rajasthan State, was born on March 8, 1953 in Mumbai. She is the fourth child of the incumbent Ruler of Gwalior Jivaji Rao Scindia and his wife Rajmata Vijaya Raje. She completed her school education from Presentation Convent, Kodaikanal. Thereafter, she graduated in Economic and Political Science (Hons.) from Sophia College, Mumbai University, Mumbai . Smt. Vasundhara Raje was conferred the Third U.N. Women Together Award in New York.
Smt Raje came in touch with Rajasthan with her marriage to the incumbent ruler of Dholpur, Maharaja Hemant Singh on November 17, 1972. Since then her relationship with Rajasthan has become stronger.
Smt Vasundhara Raje, because of her dedication, sincerity and efficiency, was give the portfolio of Minister of State for External Affairs in 1998-99 in the cabinet headed by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On October 13, 1999, Smt Raje was again included in the Central Ministry as State Minister with independent charge of Small Industries, Personnel & Training, Pension & Pensioners Welfare, Personnel & Public Grievances and Pension Ministry, Nuclear Energy Department and Space Department, etc.
Ashok Gehlot :
Ashok Gehlot (born 3 May 1951) is an Indian politician, currently serving his third term as Chief Minister of Rajasthan since December 2018. He is Congress Party's national general secretary and in-charge of organizations and training. He held this position from December 1998 to 2003 and from 2008 to 2013 and again from 17 December 2018.He hails from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He represents Sardarpura constituency of Jodhpur as Member of Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan.