Search for the Teacher- (REMEMBERING Dr Radhakrishnan )

‘The day was hot and I was foot sore and weary, the search was really taking a toll on me. My friend was equally tired too but we valiantly kept up the search, we had to.... it was important. Till now we visited all the shops in Panbazar “the-supposedly-bookshop-hub” of Guwahati ,but it was of no use. It was really disheartening that we scanned the whole place and there is not a single picture of the Teacher?... yes we were looking for a picture rather a poster of the great teacher Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and till now there is not even a small picture of him in the offing, let alone find a big poster.’
We were so amazed, it was teachers’ day the next day and all the shops which were all flamboyantly dressed up with confetti , balloons, streamers cards and gifts for the teachers’ day …had not a single picture of Dr Radhakrishnan , the man. The reason for which Teachers’ Day in India came to be celebrated
Dr Sarvappali Radhakrishnan was born on 5th of September. He was one of the greatest philosophers of India and not just of India but of the world too. He is one of the most celebrated writers and his works are many and varied which ranges from philosophical, theological, ethical, social to cultural subjects. I was after this man , who asked his students not to celebrate his birthday, but dedicate it to the teachers. Dr Radhakrishnan spent a great deal of his life in his teaching profession. From being Lecturer in Presidency College Madras to Professor in Mysore University and Calcutta University to become the vice-chancellor of Andra University, he was also representative in universities like Harvard and Oxford. Later he went on to become the vice president and then the second president of India. He was a versatile genius and to talk about his achievement in few short lines is too insufficient and very hard to pen it all down. But throughout his outstanding career he essentially remained a teacher all through his life. So, in India it’s the 5th of September that our country bestows its love and appreciations to the teachers who instill knowledge in us and guide us in our early lives. There’s a famous saying that “a teacher is like a candle which burns itself to give light to others” so its not just in India that we commemorate our teachers its all over the world but they have their own dates. Like in United states it’s the 1st of Tuesday in the month of May, in china it’s the 10th of September , in Latin America it’s the 11th of September and such. In many countries it’s they observe a national holiday on their Teachers’ Day. But it’s the 5th of October that the world collectively honored and appreciated for their special contribution to the community in general it’s the world’s Teachers’ day.

Today though out our country teachers’ day is celebrated with great enthusiasm and verve, but sadly enough its has been commercialized by the media and the market and sold very much like other events in the bazaars in shape of all kinds of fancy items, its as if our appreciation can only be presented with some fancy cards and gifts. It has both positive and negative connotations it can establish a relationship with the aid of materialism or it can really create a healthy bond between the teachers and the teachers.
Its surprising as well as to be expected that most of the kids, the younger generation and shocking the most of the average older generations are unaware of the teacher ,who was the reason teachers are celebrated on the 5th of September
‘As we went along from shops to shops with our query , there was some really interesting incidents we had to encounter. Most of the shopkeepers seemed ignorant who Dr Radhakrishnan is…some just shook their heads and some asked us who he was. There was again some who asked us to download it from the internet and others who advised us to visit the gift shops..we did. We went to gift shop and whence asked about our want they held before us dozens of posters of people who never had an ounce of teaching experience. They were the pictures of the celebrities, filmstars, cricketers, Wrestlers (phew!!) we were amused as well as discouraged too. When we tried explaining who he was and tried to be more specific…one helpful shopkeeper took out a poster and beaming all over his face , held before our eyes a poster of a south Indian filmstar….Sigh!!! he had the same initials S.R. as the shopkeeper tried to explain. I hated to disappointed him, but had to illuminate him that though the name is South Indian the persons need not be the same one.

But the wackiest of all was the least expected and well shocking too. We went to another shop where a bald pot-bellied man greeted us..i asked him “Dada Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan or poster ase niki??” his reply was “ Nai bhonti amar tat Radha aru Krishnor photo nai etia..” we were stunned and hurriedly left the shop amidst mass giggles.

We saw the kids and adults buying gifts and cards ,some teenagers trouping inside a bakery to order a large cake, the feel was festive. I secretly wondered all the people celebrating…all the schools, colleges do they remember who Dr Radhakrishnan was or are they oblivious to him as the shop keepers are?. Kids are most likely to remember as most of the schools give a lecture on Dr Radhakrishnan on Teachers’ Day (I grew up hearing that)…but it just fades away or remain in the deep closets of our minds.

We too planned to celebrate Teachers’ Day in our Department and it was that reason we were so earnestly searching for the picture of him (and also we were strictly asked by our head to get Dr Radhakrishnan’s picture . But it looked like we would have to return empty handed too…it was late and we had other work too. We decided to try our luck with the roadside vendors that sits near the Chruch. The chances were slim still…… most of them had their wares spread around them…but it was as usual posters of celebrities(looking cheap and vulgar) in cheap papers and landscapes, we didn’t bother asking them. But there was a frail old man sitting a little isolated from the hoard that caught my attention. He had very few pictures spread around him but they were pictures of the great leaders of our country unlike the other sellers. We approached him with expectations and sure enough he took out a big poster of Dr Radhakrishnan from his battered old tin trunk. We were so relieved and couldn’t believe that this old man who was uneducated knew about Dr Rahakrishnan(than those supposedly educated lot who runs the big book stall and gift shops) . We were impressed because he could even tell the history of the great teacher and also why we celebrate teachers’ day he seems to know all even more than us I presume, in fact he seems to know about all the important events in our country and assured us that we would get posters of whomever we want (from him)… “next is Gandhi Jayanti, if u want a good picture of Gandhiji , I will keep it for you.” We assured him we would definitely come to him if we need any such pictures instead of walking our feets off around the city.

So, thus ended our search for the Teacher and now its time to celebrate this day with great enthusiasm and verve(and also remember the great teacher) for Teachers’ day are indeed intended to be special days for showing our love and gratitude to the teachers and thanking them for the lasting contribution in our lives. It’s a means of celebrating the people who has transformed lives through education. HAPPY TEACHERS” DAY !!

it was published on Melange( The magazine of the news paper The Sentinel)on 5th September 2010