Teacher’s Day is a special day for the appreciation of teachers which include celebrations to honour them for their special contribution in a particular area and sometimes to the Community in general. The date of Teacher’s Day varies from country to country. UNESCO decided to celebrate Teacher’s Day on October 5 across the world in 1994. 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 ‘Gurukul” system of education in time immemorable.
In a modern education system, in India, Teacher’s Day is being 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 on September 5. Then since 1962, September 5 is being observed as Teacher’s Day all over India to honour Dr S Radhakrishnan and to commemorate the importance of teachers in our life.
Dr S Radhakrishnan was a philosopher, scholar, teacher and a politician. His dedicated work towards education made him a great teacher.
Dr S Radhakrishnan, a brilliant student hailing from erstwhile Madras Presidency, completed his 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 18.
Dr S Radhakrishnan 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 S 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 to his pleasant surprise he saw a decorated horse cart. Interestingly, there were no horses tied to the cart. On the request of his students he climbed 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 and long teaching career which he enjoyed most in his life.
Dr Radhakrishnan was then invited to join as the 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. Subsequently his lectures were published in book form entitled ‘An Idealist View of Life’.
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 Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. He served as Vice Chancellor till 1948.
After independence in 1947, Dr Radhakrishnan represented India in UNESCO and later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952 at the time of cold war. In eventful three years, Dr Radhakrishnan managed to positively amplify India’s relationship with Soviet Union. His tenure as an Ambassador was also responsible for garnering Soviet support on Kashmir. He proved himself to be an outstanding statesman during his small tenure of three years in Soviet Union.
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.
Dr Radhakrishnan was an evocative teacher, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished philosopher, a consummate statesman and most effective diplomat.
Dr S 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 he was 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 first three Bharat Ratna awardees in 1954 along with C. Rajagopalachari and CV Raman. He was also honored with British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.
Dr Radhakrishnan, who himself was a great teacher of 20th Century, felt that teacher should be a friend, philosopher and guide who holds a hand, opens the mind and touches the heart of the students.
The teachers should be able to shape the mind of youth; he should reflect good values in his own behavior in day today work so that students will emulate him. Dr Radhakrishnan believed that teachers should be the best minds in the country.
Unfortunately, the situation in India is not as expected by this great teacher. The standards are deteriorating all around, teaching career is no exception to it. The daily news come out in different media in the country about the situation in education field reflects it.
While, appreciation and felicitation to the teachers, there is a need that self-assessment and improvement amongst the educators is of vital importance to improve the education in India as envisaged by UNESCO and as believed by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan that teachers should be the best minds in the country. On this day, let us praise the best minds and also pay respectful tribute to the great teacher of 20th century Dr S Radhakrishnan on his 120th birth anniversary.
