Teacher’s Day is when we appreciate our teachers and honour them for their special contribution. Its aim is to focus on appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world. However many countries celebrate this day on different dates.
India, traditionally, celebrates Guru Pournima, an Indian and Nepalese festival dedicated to spiritual and academic teachers, initially started in the Gurukul system of education in time immemorial. In a modern education system, in India, teacher’s day is observed on September 5, which is the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India.
When Dr. Radhakrishnan became the President of India, his students approached him and requested that they may be allowed to celebrate his birthday. Dr. Radhakrishnan politely refused to celebrate his birthday but suggested that he will be honored if “Teacher’s Day” is observed on his birthday instead.
A philosopher, scholar, teacher and politician, Dr Radhakrishnan was a brilliant student hailing from erstwhile Madras Presidency. He completed is school education in Thiruttani and Tirupati and moved to Velor and then Madras Christian College and graduated in Masters in Philosophy in 1906 at the age of 13 years.
He was appointed at the Department of Philosophy at Madras Presidency College.
Thereafter, in 1918, he was selected as Professor of Philosophy by the University of Mysore where he taught at its Maharaja College. By then he had written many articles for Journals of repute like the Quest, Journal of Philosophy and the International Journal of ethics. His first book was on “The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. He believed, Tagore’s philosophy to be the genuine manifestation of the Indian spirit.
Dr. Radhakrishnan was most popular and respected teacher amongst the students. When he was leaving from Mysore University to join University of Calcutta his students gathered to bid him warm farewell. After attending the farewell function when Dr. Radhakrishnan came out of the hall to leave for the railway station and to his pleasant surprise saw a decorated horse cart. Interestingly, there were no horses tied to the cart.
On the request of his students he climbed into the cart and took his seat. His students took the place of the horses and pulled the wagon till the railway station with profound pride and honour to serve their beloved teacher. Such numerous incidences and interactions with his students always reflected the joyful and healthy relation of Dr Radhakrishnan with his students.
Dr. Radhakrishnan was then invited as professor in philosophy to occupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. He represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of Universities of the British Empire in June 1926 and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926.
He got the honour to deliver prestigious ‘Hibbert lectures on the ideas of Life’ at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, which were highly acclaimed.
In 1929, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was invited to occupy the post of Principal of Harris Manchester College which was vacated by great educationist and renowned Sanskrit scholar Prof. J. Estlin Carpenter. This appointment gave him a golden opportunity to lecture the world class students at the University of Oxford on Comparative Religion. He served as Vice Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931. In 1939, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya, a great educationist and freedom fighter, invited Dr. Radhakrishnan to succeed him as VC of Banaras Hindu University where he served till 1948.
After independence in 1947, Dr. Radhakrishnan represented India in UNESCO and later as Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952 at the time of cold war.
In an eventful three years, Dr. Radhakrishnan managed to positively amplify India’s relationship with the Soviet Union. His tenure as an Ambassador was also responsible for garnering Soviet support on Kashmir. He proved to be an outstanding statesman. Dr. Radhakrishnan was elected as vice-president of India in 1952, he served two terms as vice-president of India and was elected as the President of India in 1962.
An evocative teacher, accomplished scholar, distinguished philosopher, consummate statesman and most effective diplomat, Dr. Radhakrishnan was awarded several prizes and numerous prestigious awards at national and international levels. He was knighted by King George V in June 1931 for his excellent and dedicated services in the field of education and thus honorably called as ‘Sir’. He ceased to use this Sir title after Independence of India in 1947 and started using his academic title ‘Doctor’.
He was one amongst the first three Bharat Ratna awardees in 1954 along with C. Rajagopalachari and C.V. Raman. He was also honoured with British Royal Order of Merit in 1953.
Dr. Radhakrishnan who himself was a great teacher of the 20th Century felt that a teacher should be a friend, philosopher and guide who holds a hand, opens the mind and touches the heart of the students. Teachers should able to shape the mind of the youth, and reflect good values so that students can emulate them. Unfortunately, the situation in India is not as expected by this great teacher. The standards are deteriorating all around, and the teaching career is no exception. While appreciating and felicitating teachers, there is a need to stress on self-assessment and improvement amongst educators if we are to improve education in India as envisaged by UNESCO and as believed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
