Dr. Radhakrishnan as a teacher was humble, but evocative

04 September, 2012

The birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is rightly celebrated as the Teachers' Day in India. He excelled himself as a teacher to become the first Vice President and the second President of India.

NOT ONLY was he a serious student of philosophy, he was also an idealist, an excellent teacher, a profound author and a cool statesman. Most think that he essentially remained a teacher all his life and teaching seemed his first love.

Born on 5th September 1888 into a poor Brahmin family at Tirutani (then Madras), he studied hard to support his education through scholarships. He did M.A in Philosophy as his major subject. It was in the year 1909, he took up the post of assistant lecturer at Madras Presidency college after completing his post graduation.

The University of Mysore selected him as the Professor of Philosophy in the year 1918. This was followed by a nomination in the year 1921 for the post of professor of Philosophy at the Calcutta University.

His some other main educational assignments were as follows:

- 1931: Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University

- 1939: Vice Chancellor of the Benaras University

- 1946: Ambassador to the UNESCO

- 1948: Chairperson of Education Commission

During his teaching career, Dr.Radhakrishnan established himself as an evocative teacher who was exceedingly popular among his students right from his early days as a lecturer at Presidency College.

It is often cited that his mastery over the subject and his clarity of thought and expression made him a much sought after teacher. But what made him even more popular was his warm-heartedness and his ability to draw out people, it is pointed out.

Radhakrishan's appointment as President was hailed by great philosopher Bertrand Russel who said, "It is an honour to philosophy that Dr. Radhakrishnan should be the President of India and I, as a philosopher, take special pleasure in this. Plato aspired for philosophers to become kings and it is a tribute to India that she should make a philosopher her President".

Dr. Radhakrishnan had great faith in democracy and had urged citizens to preserve it by saying, "It was a way of life and a regime of civilised conduct of human affairs. We should be the architects of peaceful changes and the advocates of radical reform."

Here is what late PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had once said about Dr. Radhakrishnan, "He has served his country in many capacities. But above all, he is a great teacher from whom all of us have learnt much and will continue to learn."

Bharat Ratna, the highest award of the nation, was conferred on him in 1954 in recognition of his meritorious service to education, society and mankind. The true tribute of teachers to Dr. Radhakrishnan on Teachers’ Day is to follow his footsteps and remain humble, hardworking and evocative like him.