The word teacher in India is much more than a word of professional identity. The feeling goes very deep with a teacher. If we look into ancient India, we can find a vast role of gurus (teachers) in shaping the beliefs of our disciples. This tradition still exists today, even though it has waned a bit after being hit by the fierce waves of time.
In India, Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 5th September on the birth anniversary of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. In the year 1965, some of the prominent students of Late Dr S. Radhakrishnan organised a gathering to pay obeisance to that Great Teacher of repute. In that gathering, in his speech Dr Radhakrishnan expressed his deep reservation regarding his birth anniversary celebration and emphasised that his birth anniversary should be celebrated as ‘Teachers’ Day’, by paying homage to other Great Teachers of India and Bangladesh. Since the year 1967, 5th September is celebrated as Teachers’ Day till date.
There is a celebratory tradition that students across the country follow in the vibe of the prestigious day. Students dress up like their teachers and do roleplaying activities with junior classes, showing a glimpse of admiration for their modern age gurus. Teachers are showered with gifts, flowers and handmade greeting cards and many more tokens of appreciation from their students as a symbol of respect and gratitude for providing versatile guidance to them. Students also organize cultural events, up memorable speeches, shows, group activities and much more.
The word Guru is derived from two Sanskrit words GU meaning Darkness and RU meaning Destroyer so guru means “one who destroys darkness”. The above Sanskrit quote means that the guru or teacher is a combination of three deities (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh) from Indian mythology who bestow great wisdom and remove darkness from the lives of their students.
Though becoming a teacher is not an easy task, they have to be patient and solve their students’ problems for a better future. They teach their students about the importance of time and how to manage and achieve something in their life. They teach us how to respect our elders and parents and how to treat other people around us. The future and present of children totally depend on the education they get from their teachers and it is only they who sometimes become our best friends and help us to remove the mess created by us somewhere in our life.
