India remembers S Radhakrishnan on his birthday, celebrates 49th Teacher's Day

Ex-President and an eminent scholar, Radhakrishnan was born in the year 1888.

In 1965, some of his students wanted to celebrate his birthday and asked him for his permissions. Radhakrishnan replied with “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teacher's Day.”

After his death two years later, September 5 was officially declared as Teacher’s Day in India.

Messages have been flooding social networking sites with eminent personalities and politicos posting their thoughts, sharing fond memories, reminiscing their favorite scholarly moment.

President Pranab Mukherjee in a series of tweets wrote on Twitter, “Our tradition of Guru Shishya parampara calls upon teachers to impart their deepest knowledge to students #PresidentMukherjee.”

“Teachers mould the destiny of students & impart wisdom & learning to our future generations #PresidentMukherjee,” he wrote.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi wrote: “Greetings & salutations to the teaching community on Teachers' Day. My tributes to the great scholar & teacher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.”

Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee wrote, “Heartiest greetings to all teachers on the occasion of Teachers' Day.”

HRD Minister, Smriti Irani shared her thoughts as well, comparing the teachers to Lord Krishna, she posted, "A teacher is like Krishna in Bhagavadgita, guiding Arjuna to make his choices. Yatha ichchasi tatha kuru. Salutations to Dr. Radhakrishnan."