Recalling Dr. Radhakrishnan on Teachers’ Day

AMAR KRISHNA PAUL

Every professional has his or her own favourite teacher as a friend, philosopher and guide. Again, blessings of ideal teachers work as a vital force in the career of all students. So, crores of students celebrate Teachers’ Day every year as a mark of offering respect and obeisance to their ideal teachers.



In 1962 a large number of students of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan approached him to celebrate his birth day in a big way. But he opposed. He said to them, “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my privilege if September 5 is observed as Teachers’ Day.” Since that year, Teachers’ Day has been celebrated across India on his birthday, i.e., September 5. Notably, UNESCO and ILO celebrate World Teachers’ Day on October 5.   
Kick-starting a career in teaching, Radhakrishnan had to pass through many difficult days. Glad to say, he was never a pessimist. As an optimist philosopher, he used to enjoy teaching Indian Philosophy, Ethics and Religion to the students of various academic institutions in different countries. He was an academician of the extraordinary versatility. He was an exemplary author too. He was also a philosopher, scholar, diplomat and great leader.  
His journey from a small village in Andhra Pradesh to the President of India is not just inspiring, but his life itself has many wise lessons to teach us.  His work dedicated towards education shaped the youth in the early years of democracy in our country.
Born on September 5, 1888 into a Telugu family, Radhakrishnan was one of the greatest teachers that the country ever had.  He was born at Tirutani, 40 miles away from Chennai, in a middle-class Brahmin family. Sarvepalli is a small village in Andhra Pradesh from where his ancestors migrated to Tamil Nadu; hence, the prefix Sarvepalli in his name.
He was the second son of Sarvepalli Veeraswami and Sitamma. Veeraswami was serving as a tehsildar in a zamindari on a moderate salary. Radhakrishnan had his early life upto the age of eight at Tirutani and the following 12 years in various Christian missionary institutions: Lutheran Mission High School, Tirupati (1896-1900); Voorhees College, Vellore (1900-1904) and Madras Christian College (1904-1908) getting his M.A. in Philosophy in 1908.  He became a Philosophy student by chance. One of his cousins who graduated from the same college passed on his Philosophy textbooks to Radhakrishnan and that’s how he picked his course.
He began his academic career at Madras Presidency College as a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy. He also taught at various prestigious universities — the University of Calcutta, Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, the University of Oxford and the University of Mysore.
He married Sivakamuamma in 1904 and had five daughters and a son.  He left for Chennai in May 1967 to lead a lonely retired life; lonely because his wife Sivakamuamma passed away in 1956 and his children were busy in their own affairs and families. At the age of 87, he expired from this beautiful world in Chennai on April 16, 1975.
Politically, he did not have a background in the Congress Party, nor was he active in the struggle against British rules. He was often referred as the politician in shadow.  An important assignment came his way when he was chosen as India’s firs envoy to Moscow in 1949. The Iron-man Stalin was quietly charmed in the genial philosopher. And before Radhakrishnan left Moscow in 1952, he had successfully laid the foundation of firm, friendly understanding between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union, holding good till this day.  On his return from Moscow, he was elected vice-president of India (1952-57) and again for a second term (1957-62). As the vice-president, he also held the position of the chancellor of the University of Delhi from 1953 to 1962. On May 11, 1962, he was elected President of India and retired after five years in 1967. While as President, he continued his academic pursuits.
M.C. Chagla, who was a minister in the Nehru Cabinet, describes the scene in Rashtrapati Bhavan when he went to meet President Radhakrishnan: “I often saw him in his residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan. He used to meet me in his large bedroom which he had converted into a real office. He would sit up in his bed with papers and books scattered all round. It was more like a scholar’s room from Oxford than the majestic habitat of the President of India — Dr. Radhakrishnan was ideally suited to fill the role of the philosopher-king which Plato had described.”
During his lifetime Radhakrishnan was awarded several honours and distinctions like — Knighthood (1931) and honourary doctorates from a number of universities situated in different countries, Oxford, Cambridge, Moscow, Rome, Tehran, Ireland, Pennsylvania and Kathmandu besides several Indian universities. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna by the Government of India in 1954. He was also awarded, shortly before his death, the Templeton Foundation Prize for progress in religion, the first non-Christian to receive the £40,000 prize.
Radhakrishnan was very close to Jawaharlal Nehru and as the Prime Minister, Nehru sought his advice on many Government affairs.
He was also close to Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore for thirty years. Their association began when Radhakrishnan wrote a book “The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore” in 1918, which was highly appreciated by Tagore. In a letter to Radhakrishnan, Tagore wrote: “Your book delighted me. The earnestness of your endeavour and your penetration have amazed me. I am thankful to you for the literary grace of its language which is so beautiful and free from all technical jargons and a mere display of scholarship.”
He wrote as many as 20 outstanding books on Philosophy, Ethics and Religion. They include —  (i) The Ethics of Vedanta and its Material Presupposition (1908); (ii) The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore (1918); (iii) The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy (1920); (iv) Indian Philosophy, 2 vols. (1923-27); (v) The Hindu View of Life (1927); (vi) The Religion We Need (1928); (vii) Kalki, Or the Future of Civilization: An Idealist View of Life (1932); (viii) East and West in Religion (1933); (ix) The Heart of Hindustan (1936); (x) My Search for Truth (autobiographical) (1937); (xi) Gautama, the Buddha (1939); (xii) Eastern Religion and Western Thought (1939); (xiii) Mahatma Gandhi (1939); (xiv) Education, Politics and War (1944); (xv) Is This Peace? (1945); (xvi) The Religion and Society (1947); (xvii) The Bhagvadgita (1948); (xviii) The Great Indians (1949); (xix)  The Dhammapada (1950); and (xx) The Religion of the Spirit and the World’s Need (autobiographical) (1952).
Most importantly, “The Bhagvadgita” by Dr. Radhakrishnan is a classic rendering of one of the world’s greatest epics. The book holds an assured place among the world’s great scriptures. In 1400 lines of verse, the relationship of man with God and the intense joy of divine love are celebrated in a language that is precise and beautiful. This edition of the Bhagavadgita or ‘Sacred  Song’ offers the Sanskrit text as well as Dr. Radhakrishnan’s English translation and a commentary that has become a classic.
Let’s return to our main topic of discussion on Teachers’ Day. On this special day, students cherish the contribution of teachers in making their life better and shaping their behaviours according to societal prospects. September 5, is special for students as classrooms across the nation are filled with colours be it balloons or artistic decoration on the chalkboards. Many cultural programmes are generally organised on this day. Students present greetings card and handmade crafts to their teachers with messages of gratitude.
Our rich tradition of student-teacher relations has placed our country on a new high in the world history. That is, we are to work with teachers to protect the right to education and guide the global community into the unfolding landscape brought about by the pandemic. The issue of teacher’s leadership in relation to crisis responses is not just timely, but critical in terms of the contributions teachers have made to provide remote learning, support vulnerable populations and re-open schools.
To sum it up, we can’t forget Dr. Radhakrishnan who had devoted his entire life in promoting the value of education and also gave Indians a new sense of esteem by gracefully interpreting Indian thoughts and Philosophy in the West. He is one of the role models to many aspiring minds. We bow to Dr. Radhakrishnan on his 132nd birth anniversary. Precisely, our great gurus may continue to help and guide us in building a new global community with full wisdom, peace and harmony despite the untiring battle against Coronavirus nowadays. (Published on the occasion of Teachers’ Day 2020)

(Amar Krishna Paul is the Principal, Creative Academy, G.S. Road, Lachitnagar, Guwahati. Email: neintrospection@gmail.com)