Learning is continuous

Teachers' Day is to commemorate and remember one of the venerable teachers of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. Saluting this great man means not only remembering him but paying respects to your teachers now. INDIA'S HOARY tradition had never seen dearth of great teachers. However, after the advent of the British, there came a real danger of aping the West for anything and everything. Drawn into this magical web, the Indians did not realise that they had the best of talent in this area. Such a total, slavish surrender provoked Sri Aurobindo to painfully record that we had unabashedly sacrificed economic, moral and human values, and intellectually "we prided ourselves on the tricking out of our minds in a few leavings, scraps and strays of European thought at the sacrifice of an immense and eternal heritage. Never was an education more remote from all that education truly denotes." Even after 54 years of independence, the condition about which Sri Aurobindo had rued has not changed much. We have attained political freedom, no doubt about that; but we are yet to achieve our intellectual freedom. Rather, we have to undergo a rigorous training to retrieve the lost intellectual freedom we possessed once. The present-day youngsters are ecstatic over the `Valentine's Day' and hilarious at the `Friends' Day'. But, the `Teacher's Day' goes off politely, unnoticed and unsung. This one day, September 5, is to commemorate and remember one of the venerable teachers of India. To salute this great teacher means not only remembering him but also paying respects to your teachers now.

To talk of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on this day is a soul- filling task.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan has written about him humble beginnings and parentage in the introduction to his book `My Search for Truth.'

Radhakrishnan certainly had a wonderful seedtime, in his schooling at Tiruttani Board High School, Hermansburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission School at Tirupati and also in his college, Voorhees College, Vellore. He got a scholarship, passed his first arts examination in 1904. He joined the Madras Christian College, for his B.A., securing a scholarship. His primary interest was for physical sciences, but chose philosophy because he could get textbooks from his cousin! Radhakrishnan was not disappointed, but accepted this as divine choice and worked towards the goal.

Certainly, it was a blessing to him! He had the fortune of studying under great teachers like William Skinner, William Miller and A. G. Hogg, whose faithful adherence to their own religion and their analytical thinking immensely inspired him. He learnt from them that by being dedicated to one's own religion, one could acquire a deeper thinking and a wider vision.

In 1906, he graduated with a first class honours, desired to do Law, but once again, his financial constraints made him choose M.A., as he got a scholarship. In order to support his family, he began to take private tuitions.

These struggling days were real-life lessons to him. He learnt to respect life and human values. Radhakrishnan's student days at the Christian Missionary Institutions led him to two kinds of initiation: he could gain a thorough knowledge of the Bible and the remarks passed inadvertently in the classroom on Hinduism, made him take a silent vow in the mind to delve deeply into the ancient systems of India, particularly, the Bhagavad Gita.

At this juncture, he was greatly influenced by Swami Vivekananda's writings, which gave him a clear direction of action. He read the sacred texts of Hinduism and understood that the entire Indian philosophical system was caught in a narrow bigotry, when it held within itself an unlimited expanse of the universe. He realised that even the illiterate of India "with their ancient household traditions and religious observances" were able to feel the mystery of the spiritual world; these non- read wise men were also, in a way, teachers to our teacher. Such lateral thinking led him to write a thesis entitled, The ethics of the Vedanta and its metaphysical presuppositions. The thesis not only speaks boldly of the weaknesses and the sentiments in Hinduism but also comes out with healthy suggestions for a right thinking and practical living.

Radhakrishnan avers that Hinduism is the best panacea to the malady of dehumanisation of an industrial age. Today we need more and more of right thinking and straight negotiations that can be perfectly initiated by dedicated teachers.

After completion of his M.A., Radhakrishnan took up a job in the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency College in 1909 as a lecturer. He never failed to put into writing the experiences of his own learning. He continued to be in research, trying to find out answers for his ever-questioning mind. He started writing research papers and published them in the International Journal of Ethics and The Asiatic Review.

This "preceptor among the pedagogues", as Kulapati Dr. Balakrishna Joshi calls him, became the Professor of Philosophy at the Mysore University in 1918. His publications during this period were, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore and The Reign of Religion. He also wrote a novel, The Crime of Leela, which remains unpublished. But, divine providence was otherwise. His teacher, Prof. Muirhead put him in the right path by asking him to prepare a standard book on Indian philosophy. Radhakrishnan understood fully well the implications of this advice and of his own vocation. In 1920, the Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University invited Radhakrishnan to apply for the post of Professor of Mental and Moral Sciences. Radhakrishnan was only too willing to accept the post. At Calcutta, he planned for his Indian Philosophy - in two volumes. His own words reveal the politeness and simplicity of this great master: "I know there are deeper students of philosophy and great scholars of Sanskrit in the country. My ambition is not only to chronicle but to interpret and reveal the movement of the mind and unfold the sources of India in the profound plane of human nature." This is what is expected of a genuine teacher.

Calcutta brought Radhakrishnan and Tagore close and as a teacher of this University, he was invited by the Principal of the Manchester College to deliver the Upton lectures, which were later published as The Hindu View of Life. He also visited the U.S. and delivered the Haskell Lectures at Chicago. After his return to India, he published some of his finest works, such as The religion we need, The heart of Hindustan, and Kalki or The future civilization. Dr. C. R. Reddy invited him to the Andhra University in 1927 to deliver the first Convocation address.

Four years later, Radhakrishnan became the Vice-Chancellor of the same university.

Now, the concern for this teacher was university education and like a staunch rebel, he streamlined the courses, effected changes and introduced meaningful programmes. He invited many great personalities like, Sir C. V. Raman, M. Visweswarayya and Tagore to deliver special lectures for the benefit of the students.

In 1936, Radhakrishnan went to England as the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions in the Oxford University, for three years. His lectures on Comparative Religion made him a role model, and he was invited as a special speaker in the churches and synagogues.

This was a period of intense national struggle in India and naturally Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were in true regard for Dr. Radhakrishnan. The World War compelled him to come back to India and he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Benares University.

Here, he established a chair for Islamic Studies and made girl students learn vedic studies. He proved himself to be a teacher with rebellious soul!

Dr. Radhakrishnan's entire career has been punctuated with high and dignified offices; however, he preferred to be a teacher even as the First Citizen of India, relentlessly propagating the ideology of `Vasudeva Kutumbakam', the world is one family.

The teacher in him reiterated that education without purpose leads to a kind of culture drain. The true end of education is not mere acquisition of information or technical skills.

Dr. Radhakrishnan advocated two indispensable means to convert knowledge into wisdom: the study of the immortal essence of the great classics and communion with great minds, the former will enrich one's being while the latter will provoke good actions. In this modern computer age there is a tendency to reject these treasures.

Today, we need them more, for, lives of great men make our lives more sublime." As Gandhiji says, Radhakrishnan's life is the greatest message to the mankind, particularly to the teachers and the students. In fact, one is a learner always.

PADMA SRINIVASAN

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