Dr. S
Radhakrishnan
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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888, at the
pilgrim town of Tiruttani near Chennai.
He was the second son of a poor couple. It is said that his father
did not want his son to learn English, and wanted him to be a priest
instead. However, the boy was so talented that his parents decided
to send him to a school run by German Missionaries at Tirupati.
He went on to study philosophy at the Christian College, Madras and
got a Master's Degree in Arts. |
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Did you
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Radhakrishnan is known as one of the greatest thinker and philosopher of
modern India. His mastery of philosophy surfaced while he was studying
for his M.A. degree. Radhakrishnan wrote a thesis on the ethics of the
Vedanta titled "The Ethics of the Vedanta and Its Metaphysical
Presuppositions", which was a reply to the charge that the Vedanta
system had no room for ethics or morality. This thesis established his
fame as a great philosopher. |
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In
April 1909, when he was only 20 years old, Radhakrishnan was
appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency
College. From then on, he started teaching, the profession on which
he was to leave a lasting impression.
He became very popular with his students not only because of his
knowledge but also because of his simple, yet interesting way of
teaching. |
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Dr.
Radhakrishnan Speak
"Respect for teachers cannot be ordered; it
must be earned." |
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Fundu
Fact |
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popular was Radhakrishnan that when he was leaving to join as a
professor in Calcutta he was taken all the way from the Mysore
University to the Railway Station in a flower decked carriage pulled
by his students! |
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| In 1929,
Radhakrishnan was invited to take the post vacated by Principal J. Estin
Carpenter in Manchester College, Oxford. This gave him the chance to
lecture students on Comparative Religion. During that visit, he also
gave the Hibbert Lectures on "An Idealist View of Life" to audiences at
the Universities of London and Manchester. |
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Did you
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H. N.
Spalding, who had also listened to Dr Radhakrishnan's lectures in
London, was so fascinated by their content and his personality that he
decided to found a chair at Oxford for Eastern Religions and Ethics. The
Chair, established in 1936 was offered to Radhakrishnan. |
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From
1936-39, Radhakrishnan was the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions
and Ethics at Oxford University.
In 1939 he came back to India and served as the Vice-Chancellor of the
Banaras Hindu University for the next nine years. |
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Dr
Radhakrishnan as an educationist |
| Dr.
Radhakrishnan was of the opinion that only the right kind of education
could solve many ills of the society and the country. He wanted to bring
in a change in the educational system by improving the quality of
education and building up a strong relationship between the teacher and
the taught. In his opinion, teachers should be the best minds of the
country; they should not merely instruct but should gain the true
affection of pupils, and the respect for teachers cannot be ordered but
it should be earned. |
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He led
the Indian delegation to UNESCO during 1946-52 and served as the Indian
Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. during 1949-52.
In 1952 he was elected the Vice-President of India from 1952-1962. In
May 1962, he became the President of India, a post he occupied for the
next five years. |
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Fundu
Fact |
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Radhakrishnan's appointment was welcomed by Bertrand Russell, one of
the world's greatest philosophers. He said "It is an honour to
philosophy that Dr. Radhakrishnan should be 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". |
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as the president Sarvepalli remained a humble man. It was an open
house at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and people from all sections of
society were welcome to meet him. In addition he accepted only Rs.
2,500 out of his salary of Rs. 10,000 and donated the remaining
amount to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund every month. He
remained a teacher in many ways and even adopted the authoritative
tone of a headmaster in many of his letters to his ministers!
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Did you
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Dr.
Radhakrishnan's birthday is celebrated every year as Teachers' Day. The
celebration has an interesting story behind it. When he became the
President of India in 1962, some of his fans approached Dr.
Radhakrishnan and requested him to allow them to celebrate September 5,
as his "birthday''. In reply Dr. Radhakrishnan said, "instead of
celebrating my birthday separately, it would be my proud privilege if
September 5 is observed as Teachers' Day''. The request showed Dr
Radhakrishnan's love for the teaching profession. From then onwards, the
day has been observed as Teachers' Day all over the country.
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| India's
highest award, the Bharat Ratna, was conferred on him in 1954 in
recognition of his meritorious service to mankind. |
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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan passed away on April 17, 1975. |
Dr.
Radhakrishnan Speak
"The aim of education is not the acquisition of information,
although important, or acquisition of technical skills, though
essential in modern society, but the development of that bent of
mind, that attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy which will
make us responsible citizens." |
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