celebrating Guru Utsav (or Teacher's Day) - remember your Teachers ...

Guru Vandana means “Reverence for the Teacher” – it is the thanksgiving from a student to a teacher, expressing his or her gratitude. Guru is in news on the proposed move of HRD Minister to celebrate ‘Guru Utsav’ – with some projecting it as a move towards saffronisation.  The Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani  has stated that with an aim to ensure wider reach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interaction with school students on the Teachers' Day, live streaming will also be made available through web channels of Doordarshan, PMO and the HRD Ministry. The interaction will start from 3 pm and will continue till 4.45 pm. Modi will address about 1000 students from the Manekshaw Auditorium which will be broadcast live by all Doordarshan channels and on radio. The prime minister would also take questions from some students spread across the country through a video-conference facility. Live streaming on the web would also be made available to ensure maximum 'audience'.

Newspaper reports suggest that Tamil Nadu government would stick to "Teachers' Day" tag, avoiding reference of "Guru Utsav" anywhere in the celebrations.  It is stated that TN Govt’s education department is going ahead with organizing Teachers' Day celebrations as it used to do in the previous years.  It will honour 377 teachers with the Best Teachers (Nallasiriyar)  Award this year.

Me and my classmate R Sathyamurthi with

Shri TS Sriraman, who taught us Commerce in +2  (1982-83) photo taken in 2011

Do you remember the Names and can you recollect the faces of your teachers at your Elementary school and in Secondary school .... have you ever met any of them after coming out of school.  Can you recognise them and would you pay reverence, if you are to have a chance meeting with them.  Read somewhere that Sultan Qaboos did ....

5^th Sept is a special day - …and those in Chennai – know well this road connecting Beach Road[Kamarajar Salai] from Gandhi statue to Gemini flyover [Anna Membalam] …… is Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, earlier known as Cathedral Road.   5^th Sept, is Teachers Day… in many countries, it is a special day appreciating the role of Teacher… but the World Teachers’ Day is distinctly different, for it is on Oct 5th.

In India, it is after a person whose father was not keen on him learning English or going to school – he wanted his son to become a priest – somehow this man went to a school in Tiruttani.  Later he became a great scholar – the man - Sarvepalli Radhakrishna, a scholar, philosopher and statesman who rose to become the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967. One of India's most influential scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, Radhakrishna built a bridge between the East and the West by showing how the philosophical systems of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. He is known for his scholastic achievements. Radhakrishna was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954. Among the many other honours he received were the British Knight Bachelor in 1931 and honorary membership of the Order of Merit (1963), but ceased to use the title "Sir" afterIndia attained independence.  Dr Radhakrishna believed that "teachers should be the best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday is celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September.

5th Sept for sure should rekindle the memories of another great patriot who underwent untold sufferings at the hands of British.. there is a separate post on that ...

Qaboos bin Said Al Said is the Sultan of Oman and its Dependencies. He is the 14^th generation descendant of the founder of the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty. Sultan Qaboos, the present ruler of Oman received his education in Pune where he was taught by Shankar Dayal Sharma, who later became the 9^th President of India (served from 1992 to 1997).  Prior to that he was Vice-President under Sri R Venkataraman.  He was earlier the CM of Bhopal and Cabinet Minister holding various portfolios.  It is stated that when Shankar Dayal Sharma visited Muscat, the Ruler personally received him at the airport and drove him around as a gesture of respect to his teacher.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.