It is Teachers Day and we all are wishing or mentors and teachers gratitude and good will. Truly the weavers of the fabric of civilized society, Teachers Day is a celebration in every sense. In all this we should never forget the man to whom this day is forever dedicated. The teacher and academician, the bureaucrat and philosopher, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. There facts about which you may not know. These will astound you and amaze you. Let us see..
- When Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan became the President of India, he was approached by his students to celebrate his birthday on 5 September. He is a much loved academician among his students. He modestly declined it but wished the day to be celebrated as Teachers Day. Teaching was always his first passion.
- He was a renowned scholar of comparative religion and philosophy in his time. His appointments at elite institutions prove so. He has taught as Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at Oxford and George V Chair of Mental and Moral science at University of Calcutta.
- He was an academic and scholarly champion of Indian Philosophy and takes the credit of giving it global outreach.
- A beloved teacher, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has been an amazing inspiration for them. The students cherished him so much that his carriage was bedecked with flowers when he bid farewell to Mysore University. The students drove him in it till the station.
- He came from a very humble background and his home was on the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
- His father desired him to be a priest but he went on to become a Masters in Philosophy and published his first book Indian Philosophy which is a benchmark in its field.
- Known to be calm and make others calm in distress, the Dr. Radhakrishnan was an expert at bring order to chaotic Rajya Sabha sessions. His trick was to chant Sanskrit shlokas that would miraculously calm down heated people.
- He was hailed by the famous philosopher Bertrand Russell. On being appointed as the President of India, Bertrand Russell congratulated it as an achievement of the school of Philosophy.
- In 1946 he was appointed the Chairman of UNESCO and later in 1949 as Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
- Vast education reforms in India bear his hallmark. As Chair to Union Education Commission he has brought about path breaking efforts to the educational system in India. A teacher at heart and soul, truly Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is the inspiration behind Teachers Day.
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