Hailing from a small village named Akhmau in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, Sharad Ji is a man known for his hard work, commitment and devotion toward the poor and the underprivileged. Mr Yadav had a momentous childhood. After the first struggle for independence in the year 1857, his ancestors moved to Madhya Pradesh from the district of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh. As the East India Company was attacking and making people captives, his family moved to his birth town after a family police officer suggested they move to Indore. 

Sharad Ji's grandfather, Shri Hariprasad, was a well-off man but he had no child of his own. He adopted his father, Shri Nandkishor Yadav, who then continued with their family business. Sharad Ji had 5 brothers and a sister. His entire family was well-known in the village. His father was actively involved in the freedom movement of the country. During the Salt March of 1930, he was even arrested by the officials but this didn't let his spirits down. One could say that Sharad Ji had inherited the virtue of courage from his father. From the start, he was able to sympathise with the agonies of others and was ready to risk his life to help others. 
One such incident is when Sharad Ji saved a woman from drowning. She fell into the well and didn't know how to swim as there was no river or lake in the village. Sharad Ji saved that woman by jumping into the well by putting his own life at stake.  He was then awarded and recognized by the government for his valour but the prize money from the envelope got misplaced, yet he didn't complain to anyone about it. 

Shared Ji became the target of casteism from the start itself. As he migrated from a different state, his family wasn't able to blend well with the others. 'Yadavs' weren't a prominent and well-known caste. Even in his primary school, one of his teachers used to taunt him because his friend was a Christian. His teacher didn't like him hanging out with his Christian friend and often told him to stay away.