Speech on Dr Radhakrishnan

Speech on Dr Radhakrishnan

Good morning everyone. I am here today to render a speech on the famous Dr Radhakrishnan. I am sure all of us here have heard the name as we celebrate Teacher’s Day on the birth anniversary of this great teacher and author all over India.

Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5^th September 1888 in Tirutani in the household of a poor Brahmin family. His father was Sarvepalli Veeraswami and his mother was Sitamma. Dr Radhakrishnan completed his education mostly on scholarships. His early education started at Gowdie School and for higher education, he went to Lutheran Mission School in Tirupati. He then joined Voorhee’s College in Vellore and later changed to Madras Christian College. Philosophy was his major subject and he did his Bachelor’s and Master’s in the subject.

On completion of his Master’s degree, Dr Radhakrishnan accepted a job of Assistant Lectureship at Madras Presidency College in the year 1909. He mastered classics of Indian Philosophy with the study of Bhagvad Gita, Upanishads, Brahmasutra and studies of Madhava, Shankara and Ramanuja. Not only this, he worked towards acquainting himself with Jain and Buddhist philosophies. He also made sure that he read philosophical commentaries of Kant, Plotinus, Bradley, Plato, Bergson etc., along with reading and understanding Existentialism and Marxism.

He worked as a Professor of Philosophy in various prestigious colleges in India. He also published a book ‘Indian Philosophy’ and it was considered as a philosophical classic and literary masterpiece. He was also summoned to Oxford University for delivering speech on Hindu philosophy. Indian philosophy found a permanent place on the world map with endeavors from this great scholar. He became the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University and Benaras Hindu University in 1931 and 1939 respectively.

In 1952 he was elected first Vice-President of India and served two terms in the post. He became President in 1962. Dr Radhakrishnan was awarded with the highest Indian civilian award The Bharat Ratna in 1954. This great scholar and eminent Indian philosopher, author and teacher left for his heavenly abode on 17^th April 1975. Let me conclude my speech by saying, let us follow the teachings of this great teacher and make our world a better place to be.

By Maanasi