Dr. Radhakrishnan an Iconic Teacher

Once the great Greek philosopher said, “Those who educate children well are more to be honoured than they who produce them.”

On the honour of teacher’s Day, we all remember Dr.Radhakrishnan, India’s 2^nd president. But why do we celebrate our teacher day on the birth date of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan?

After Dr. Radhakrishnan became the President of India, a group of students wanted to celebrate his birthday as ‘Radhakrishnan Jayanti’. But he respectfully refused and instead suggested them to celebrate it as a day to honour teachers. Since then India celebrates teacher’s day on 5^th September.

History says Dr. Radhakrishnan worked as a bridge-builder between India and the West. He is known as a great Indian philosopher, scholar, professor, statesman, visionary, and political mentor as well.

His work was grounded in ‘Advaita Vedanta’ (school of Hindu Philosophy and religious practice), where he defended Hinduism against “Uninformed Western Criticism”.

In the list of great teachers there are names such as Chanakya, Gautam Budha, Aryabhatta, Rabindranath Tagore, Savitribhai Phule, Swami Vivekananda, and many more. They have given us a direction toward life with a gift of education.