HAGIOGRAPHY also has a role in history. And so this tribute by an acolyte to his herois to be welcomed. Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjis was a short life. While his electionto the Calcutta University senate at the age of 23 and his elevation to thevice-chancellorship had everything to do with his being Sir Ashutosh Mookerjis son,the credit for his remarkable political career must go to him alone. He battled SubhasChandra Bose on his home turf and Nehru on the national scene. Had he lived longer, hemight have realised his full potential, but the party he founded in 1951, the BharatiyaJana Sangh, has, in its present incarnation as the Bharatiya Janata Party, been the leaderof the ruling coalition for the last three years. Cause enough for a centenary biography.