On the eve of teacher’s day, I would like to remind us all about the great person, in whose memory, we celebrate this day- Dr, Radhakrishnan. Dr, Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 in Tirutani. His father’s name was Sarvapalli Veeraswami and his mother’s name was Sitamma. He belonged to a very poor family and, being a brilliant scholar, completed most of his studies on scholarship.

That he was India’s first vice president and second president is a very well known fact. But apart from this, held many other important positions as well. He was a member of the constituent assembly, which framed India’s constitution. He was also a very successful diplomat and served as Indian ambassador in the Soviet Union for about three years, where he laid the foundation strong alliance of the two countries.

His contributions in the field of education are also noteworthy. He served as the vice chancellor of Andhra University and BHU Varanasi. He also headed the University Education Commission and showed the way higher education should be continued in free India. To honour his contributions in the field of education, his birthday is celebrated as teacher’s day every year.

Apart from being an educationist, diplomat, politician, he was also a philosopher and author. He specialized in Indian philosophy and gave lectures about it even in other countries. He even taught philosophy in Oxford University.

He became India’s first vice president in the year 1952 and second president in the year 1962. He belonged to that creed of leaders, for whom the foremost thing was not power, but social welfare.

Very rarely is man, with such diverse talents and capabilities, born and India is blessed that he was born in this country.