Greetings on Teachers Day – September 5

 

Greetings on Teachers Day – September 5

In India, we observe and celebrate Teachers Day on September 5, the birth anniversary of President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great teacher and philosopher of his times. I wrote a couple of times before also on Teachers Day in my blogs. But somehow I feel like revisiting the subject and greet my friends, teachers, my school and college mates on this great day with a view to pay the debt of gratitude to my

teachers and mentors not only in the course of my formal educational years but throughout my life otherwise too. Somehow, I also feel that it is good to be a student always as learning is an ongoing and continuing process. Guru, the teacher, not only teaches you the academic curricula but also prepares you to enter life fully ready to meet the challenges on the way as Dr. S. Radhakrishnan himself said, “The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves.”

With Dr. K.C. Mohendru and Prof. K.K. Ghai

With regard to my own experience, I vividly recall my school teachers – Shiela Behnji in the primary, Lala Dwarka Dass and Khullar Sahib in the high school and Mohendru Sahib and Ghai Sahib in the college to mention some among others. I think my
teachers made me what I am today. President Barack Obama rightly said, “If you were successful somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.”

I am an alumnus of DAV College Jalandhar. It is a matter of great satisfaction, on my return to Jalandhar after my retirement of a long service as an Indian diplomat; I could pick up the threads and revive my association and connection with my alma mater and my Gurus namely Prof. K.K. Ghai and Dr. K.C. Mohendru and others. I write this with a great sense of gratitude that DAV College

Speaking at DAV College Jalandhar

invited and honoured me at various occasions in recent years. I recall the words of one of the greatest sons of India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. While speaking at my alma mater in Jalandhar  on October 28, 1951, he said, “I am very fond of the teaching profession. I am also very fond of students. I have dealt with them. I have lectured them in my life. This is the first opportunity I have got to address students since my resignation from the Cabinet. I am very glad to talk to students. A great deal of the future of this country must necessarily depend on the students of this country. Students are an intelligent part of the community and they can shape public opinion. I, therefore, take special pleasure in addressing you the members of the Parliament and I am really thankful for the opportunity given me.” From this one can understand the importance and significance of Teachers Day which we are celebrating today, September 5.

It is, again, a matter of gratification to note that I can boast of as a fortunate man to meet and make friends with a number of great teachers and academicians in and around Jalandhar in the process of living a retired life namely; Principal Jagdish Joshi, Prof. K.K. Ghai, Prof. Balbir Chander, Prof. Savita Tiwari, Principal Sarita Verma, Prof. Ahsanual Haq, Principal Parminder Singh, Principal Kulwant

With Principal J.C. Joshi and Prof. Balbir Chander

Sngh Phull, Principal Vinay Sharma, Principal Navjot Kaur, Principal Sarbjit Singh, Prof. Dinesh Arora, Prof. Varun Nayyar, inter alia, both serving and retired. I learn a great deal from these big names in the intelligentsia in and around Jalandhar. They are great teachers by their own right.

Greetings on the Teachers Day. I would love to remain a student throughout as Urdu poet Jagannath Azad has rightly said:-

इब्तिदा ये थी कि मैं था और दा'वा इल्म का

इंतिहा ये है कि इस दा'वे पे शरमाया बहुत