BECAUSE he did not have money for ferry fare as a schoolboy, Lal Bahadur Shastri swam the Ganges twice a day with his books tied atop his head.

Among Indian politicians, few offer better examples of what Americans know as the barefoot‐boy‐born ‐ in ‐ a ‐ log‐ cabin credentials for public administration. As Minister without Portfolio—a new post considered equivalent to Deputy Prime Minister—he is likely to draw heavily on his popularity. He was sworn in yesterday.

Described as a “colorless,” self‐effacing, teetotaling, vegetarian peacemaker, Mr. Shastri offers an additional requisite of a successful Indian politician—a spell in jail for anti‐British activities during the colonial period.

His sense of personal responsibility was demonstrated sharply in 1956. After nearly four years as Minister of Railways and Transport, he resigned immediately after a disastrous railway accident and took the blame.

Many consider Mr. Shastri's new appointment an indication that he is the chosen successor of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But one of his closest associates said of him recently, “He is good, but he is too thin‐skinned to be a Prime Minister.”

A tiny, ascetic man 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 100 pounds, Mr. Shastri wears simple homespun cotton garments. He was once described by Mr. Nehru as “half civilized” because of his frequent appearance in a dhoti, the peasant's trouserlike loincloth.

Mr. Shastri is known as one of the most adroit among Indian politicians at not making enemies. His solid reputation in the ruling Congress party is based on his services as an arbitrator and a conciliator among innumerable rivalries and feuding personalities.

Politically Mr. Shastri is known as a man of the center, who moves with ease and apparent impartiality among almost all the diverse elements of Indian political life.

He was born in Benares District of a poor, shopkeeping family. Although the family appellation “Shastri” is usually associated with the Brahmin caste, he earned it through study and examinations.

After a scanty early education, he was able to attend Kashi Vidyapith, a nationalist college. He abandoned his early studies to join the passive‐resistance movement of Mohandas K. Gandhi and spent two and a half years in prison in the nineteen‐thirties as a participant in the independence movement.

After independence, Mr. Shastri became a parliamentary secretary in the United party Government and then general secretary of the Congress party.

He helped to pave the way for the party's victories at the polls in 1952, and was rewarded with a place in the Cabinet. From 1947 to 1951 he was Minister for Police and Transport. He was named Minister for Railways and Transport in 1952.

After long periods in technical ministries, Mr. Shastri won a chance to exhibit his talents in 1961. He succeeded his friend and political patron Pandit Pant as Home Minister.

In this position he became a contidant of Mr. Nehru and strengthened his position within the party. He was assigned to unravel some of the party's knottiest problems.

Mr. Nehru sent the minister to Katmandu, Nepal, capital in 1961 to discuss border problems and growing Communist Chinese influence in the Himalayan kingdom. He was well received.

Mr. Shastri last left the Cabinet in 1962. It was understood that Mr. Nehru was reluctant to let him go. There were others in the Cabinet whose resignations Mr. Nehru sought and who would not leave unless Mr. Shastri did.

The new Minister has said that he has never sought public office, but has added, “I am not a Sanyasi” — a Hindu who renounces wordly ambitions and goods.

Of his domestic life, it is known that he has four sons, two daughters and many grandchildren.