5th September
is celebrated as Teacher's Day each year throughout India very uniquely.
This day shows and also increases the loving bonds between teachers and pupils. We all know that the man behind this celebration is Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the 2nd President of India, who himself was a teacher.
But most of us know very little about his life. Here are the 10 interesting facts about his life.
No. 1:
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan once said, "teachers should be the best minds in the country."
When he became the President of India, a few of his friends and students requested him to celebrate his birthday.
He replied that "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5th is observed as Teacher's Day."
Since then (1962), Teacher's Day has been celebrated in India on 5th September.
No. 2:
Radhakrishnan was the 1st vice president and 2nd President of India from 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967.
During his presidency, four prime ministers ( Jawaharlal Nehru, Gulzarilal Nanda, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Indira Gandhi) served the country.
No. 3:
He was the 1st Indian to hold a professorial chair at the University of Oxford. (source: Wikipedia)
He served as a Lecturer at Manchester College, Oxford, from 1926 to 1930, and in 1930, he was appointed as a lecturer in Comparative Religion at the University of Chicago.
From 1936 to 1952, he was the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford.
No. 4:
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was awarded Knighthood in 1931, but he ceased the use of 'Sir' immediately after independence and preferred to use his doctorate.
No. 5:
He was a renowned scholar of comparative religion and philosophy. His philosophy was mainly focused on Advaita Vedanta.
He defended Hinduism against the "uninformed Western criticism" and increased the accessibility of Hinduism to the Western world.
No. 6:
Dr. Radhakrishnan is the only Indian president who could not attend the Republic Day Parade due to his illness.
No. 7:
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan received 5 major civilian honors from different countries.
i) Knight Bachelor in 1931 by British India.
ii) Bharat Ratna - the highest civilian award of India in 1954.
iii) Recipient of the Pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts in 1954 by Germany.
iv) Sach First Class of the Order of the Aztec Eagle in 1954 by Mexico.
v) Member of the Order of Merit in 1963 by the United Kingdom.
No. 8:
Dr. Radhakrishnan was married to his distant cousin Sivakamu at the age of 14 as a Telugu tradition. They have 6 children,, including 5 daughters and a son.
His son Sarvepalli Gopal later became a historian.
No. 9:
He was accused by one of his students,, Jadunath Sinha,, of plagiarism of his work by his teacher.
They both filled lawsuits against each other in court and was finally settled by an undisclosed settlement.
No. 10:
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was nominated a total of 27 times for the Nobel Prize. He was nominated 16 times for Nobel Prize in literature and 11 times nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
Although he was the President of India, the ceremonial head of the state of India, he was very much grounded and lived a simple life. He was one of those few people who knew the real value of teachers and the profession of teaching.
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