Teachers’ day is a joyous occasion as it celebrates the pure bond between a teacher and their pupil. Students look forward to teachers’ day every year as it gives them a chance to honour their teachers and make them realize their importance. Special activities are conducted in schools and colleges, to commemorate the educators of India on this day.
Teachers’ day is celebrated each year on September 5, to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who is the former President of India. Dr Radhakrishnan served as the first Vice President of India and the second President of India. He was born on September 5, 1888.
Dr Radhakrishnan was best known for his amazing skills as a teacher, scholar and philosopher. Throughout his life, he motivated people to finish their studies and laid importance on the power of education for the development of our nation. To honour his life’s works and his efforts to spread literacy, teachers’ day is celebrated on his birth anniversary across the country.
Here’s what you need to know about Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- Dr Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888, in a middle-class family in Tamil Nadu. Though he came from humble beginnings, he grew up to be an ace student and was awarded scholarships throughout his life.
- Dr Radhakrishnan is known as the greatest philosopher in Indian history, but he had no plans of pursuing it during his student life. He just chanced upon the subject when his cousin handed him his old philosophy textbooks.
- At the young age of twenty, Dr Radhakrishnan published his first-ever thesis, titled “The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions”.
- Dr Radhakrishnan started his career in teaching when he was appointed as a philosophy professor in Madras Presidency College. In 1918, he moved on to become a philosophy professor at the University of Mysore.
- Dr Radhakrishnan was elected the chairman of UNESCO’s executive board due to his achievements and his drive to spread the power of education in the country.
- Some of his most recognized works are Gautama the Buddha, India and China, Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, The Hindu View of Life, An Idealist View of Life, Kalki or the Future of Civilisation, The Religion We Need, among many others.
- Throughout the course of his life, he was nominated 16 times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and 11 times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
- The renowned scholar passed away on April 17, 1975, in Tamil Nadu, at the age of 86.
