September 5, 2022: The nation is celebrating Teacher’s Day today. On this day teachers are honoured and felicitated as a mark of respect for the service they offer by moulding lives.

The day also commemorates the birthday of India’s first Vice-President and second President of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Dr Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 and every year his birthday is celebrated as Teacher’s Day to remember and celebrate Dr Radhakrishnan’s contributions towards the world of teaching. He was very popular among his students as a teacher and is always remembered as a philosopher and scholar besides being an astute statesman.

It is since 1962, September 5 that Dr Radhakrishnan’s birthday is being celebrated as Teacher’s Day.

It is said that while he was serving as the second President of India in 1962, his students approached him to seek permission to celebrate his birthday – September 5 – as a special day. Instead, Dr Radhakrishnan made the request to observe September 5 as Teachers’ Day, to recognise the contribution of teachers to the society.

He taught at Chennai’s Presidency College and Calcutta University.  He was also Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore. He also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936 and the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1939, succeeding Madan Mohan Malviya.

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna — the highest civilian award in India in 1954. He was admitted as an honorary member of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.

Born in a Telugu family, Dr Radhakrishnan completed his entire education through scholarships. He had a master’s degree in Philosophy and authored the book ‘The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore’ in 1917 and the timeless treatise, ‘The Hindu View of Life’.

Dr Radhakrishnan served as the first Vice-President of India from 1952 to 1962 and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967. He was also the Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952.