Manubhai's paternal grandfather was Maneklal Shah, a school teacher who taught Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi for many years from primary to high school years, also giving him private coaching as Gandhi was having difficulty with his studies. This student of Maneklalbapa is to become the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi in the years to come. In the gigantic turn of events, Manubhai was to later become associated with Mahatma Gandhi when in 1932 he joined the Indian movement for independence against the British. Manubhai went to jail for 3 years for his participation in the Quit India Movement. (Manubhai's maternal uncle Popatlal Girdharlal Chhaganlal Shah was also active in the Freedom Movement and was imprisoned along with stalwarts such as Former Prime Minister of India Shri Morarji Desai who remained Popatmama's lifelong friend.)

Having had his primary education in Wadhwan (Gujarat) in Gujarati medium of instruction, Manubhai then studied for a few years at NTM High School in Wadhwan in English medium. He completed his matriculation examination (year 10 of school) in the town of Lakhtar (Gujarat) living with his maternal uncle Popatmama as at that time his father was posted as Thanedaar in a village where there was no high school. Manubhai’s maternal uncle Popatmama was a Station Master in Lakhtar. On one of his frequent visits to the Station, Manubhai once used a pen and ink of the Station to leave a note for his uncle. Before he completed writing the note, his uncle arrived. On seeing that Manubhai was using pen and ink which was Government property, Popatmama slapped Manubhai and scolded him for utilising the ink which did not belong to him. This incident and other characteristics of his uncle stayed in Manubhai's mind for ever. Each year it was routine for the British goverment to provide woollen jackets and coats to their employees. After Popatmama received his first set of woollen clothes, in the following years he refused to accept any new set saying he had already got woollens from a previous year. Such was the high integrity in the family which Manubhai imbibed in his early years of life. (These principles were to remain with Manubhai throughout his life. As Union Minister in Delhi, Manubhai had access to a Government vehicle for use in his official duties. Once Manubhai’s wife Vidyaben had to go to the Railway Station to receive her elderly parents but their personal car was not back from the garage where it was being repaired. In this emergency situation Vidyaben used the official car for which she paid back 12 anaas (75 paise) per mile to the government.)

Manubhai's acts of honesty as a politician, policy maker and administrator are legendary. He did not allow his sister’s husband Dr Rasiklal Kamdar who was a medical surgeon to be posted as the Chief Surgeon to the Government Hospital in Bhavnagar in erstwhile Saurashtra in case the decision of the Board could be influenced by Manubhai’s position as Minister in the Saurashtra Government. He did not permit his wife’s brother Chandrakant Mehta who was a chartered accountant to audit companies which may have needed any kind of official action from Manubhai in his capacity as Union Minister. One example had become very famous in the 1950s when Manubhai requested his wife not to accept donation for Triveni Kala Sangam an arts institution she was involved in building in Delhi; the interested donor was SASMIRA an independent research association of the silk industry which was likely to require Manubhai’s assistance as he was the Minister in charge of textiles at the time. Another well known incident is where he had made a large purchase for his employer the Delhi Cloth Mills, and the supplier of the items asked him how his personal commission should be paid, to which his reply was that any amount that the supplier would consider as payment for his services should be deducted from the total bill as the employer already paid him a monthly salary for his services. After joining the Union Council of Ministers in Delhi in 1956, Manubhai started contributing 50 percent of his salary to the National Defense Fund. This was unthinkable even in those days. After a short period, family members persuaded him to withdraw this gesture towards his country which was very dear to him. In the mid 1960s, one of his erstwhile colleagues from the previous Saurashtra State Government was in a financial crisis and approached Manubhai for support. Manubhai immediately offered financial assistance and continued his support for several years. He would never say no to anyone reaching out to him. Throughout his working years, he extended financial help to his brothers and sisters and their families whenever it was needed. When his elder brother was living with him in Delhi, in keeping with the principles of the family, the salary would be handed to the brother as he was the elder in the house and he would handle the day to day expenses. Such were the teachings of generosity of the ancestors of the families of Vidyaben and Manubhai.

Lalaji trusted Manubhai deeply and treated him like a son. Bharat Ram and Charat Ram were like his brothers. Shiela Bharat Ram discussed many ideas with Vidyaben on setting up cultural institutions in Delhi (later Vidyaben became President of the Indian National Theatre started by Shielaji.) Very soon the entire Shri Ram family became very close to the Shah family and even after Manubhai left DCM to join politics and the Congress party, the Shri Ram family visited them in Gujarat and continued to maintain close family relations when the Shahs returned to Delhi in 1956. The Shah family and Shri Ram family met very often at the Chhoti Kothi at 22 Curzon Road (now Kasturba Gandhi Marg).

Lalaji's eldest son was Murli Dhar, whose daughter in law Prabha Sridhar recounts an incident when in the 1960s her husband Sridhar was developing a needle bearings industry project. Sridhar was looking for foreign collaboration and came back with a contract with a USA based company and sought Lalaji's opinion to decide whether to accept the contract or not. This was around late November time somewhat cold in Delhi in those days. Lalaji immediately said, "Go and ask Manu, he will be the best person to advise." Sridhar called Manubhai who said, "Sure come along. why delay, I will wait for you at 5.30 tomorrow morning." And Sridhar went to see Manubhai at 5.30 a.m. on a late November morning, and they talked as Manubhai took his morning walk outside his residence in Delhi. He saw the papers there and then and gave an immediate decision. This speed of work was to stay with Manubhai throughout his life. Once indirectly through writing a newspaper article he conveyed to Lalaji that Lalaji’s employees were not trained or paid well, at which point Lalaji himself requested Manubhai to start a training scheme for DCM employees, which he promptly did. Manubhai was also generous and caring towards his fellow employees, a trait which made Lalaji appoint him as Chairman of the first ever in the county, DCM Employees’ Welfare Benefit Fund which also encouraged labour participation in management. Lalaji was in the process of offering Manubhai a partnership in DCM when suddenly in early 1948 a few months after Indian independence, Manubhai’s career with DCM came to an end with another call for country.

Early Years of Vidyaben Shah