By Reya Mehrotra
As the name suggests, the day of Guru Purnima is devoted to all the gurus—spiritual or academic—who have imparted their expertise and wisdom to make the world a greater spot. The day, which was celebrated not too long ago, is largely observed by Jains, Buddhists and Hindus. Here, we bring to you a list of some of the greatest Indian teachers of all occasions.
Mahadevi Varma
Indian writer, activist and major Hindi poet, Mahadevi Varma held a master’s in Sanskrit. She was an advocate for women’s rights. For her contributions in Indian literature, she received the Jnanpith Award in 1982 and Padma Bhushan in 1956. Varma is identified to be one of the 4 pillars of the Chhayawaad era in Hindi literature, the era of neo-romanticism. The most well-liked female litterateur of the 20th century, she is revered today.
APJ Abdul Kalam
The 11th President of India and space scientist APJ Abdul Kalam has a list of stellar achievements to his credit. He spent more than 4 decades at DRDO and ISRO, and was named the Missile Man of India. In 1998, he played an critical function in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests. After his retirement from his political profession, he returned to his profession in education and writing. He became a going to professor at IIM-Shillong, IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Indore, and professor of aerospace engineering at Anna University. He also had distinct roles in a quantity of other educational institutes across India.
Rabindranath Tagore
The poet is one of the most influential figures of Bengali literature. He is credited for possessing introduced Indian culture to the West and vice-versa in the 20th century. He was the initially non-European to obtain the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He wrote a number of well-known functions and poems, like his collection Gitanjali. A leader of the Brahmo Samaj, he began an experimental college named Shantiniketan, the roots of which have been established by his father.
Sarvepallli Radhakrishnan
The initially Vice President of India and the second President was an academician, politician, philosopher and professor. His birth anniversary, September 5, is celebrated as Teacher’s Day to honour educators across the nation. He taught philosophy at Mysore and Kolkata universities and ethics and eastern religion at England’s Oxford University. He was also elected as Unesco’s executive board chairman in 1948.
Dayananda Saraswati
The founder of Arya Samaj, which advocated a return to the Vedas, was against idol worship. He worked towards spreading Vedic Hinduism in India and furthered a quantity of critical social reforms like banning youngster marriage, producing Vedic research accessible to all castes, equal rights for girls, widow remarriage, and founded quite a few educational institutions.
Swami Vivekanada
Social reform was one of the key aims of Swami Vivekananda, a spiritual leader and reformer. He joined the Brahmo Samaj to get rid of illiteracy, youngster marriage and propagate equality for girls. He was an advocate of the gurukul technique of education and the Vedanta philosophy, one of the six systems of Indian philosophy. The founder of Ramakrishna Mission was also identified for his intellectual concepts.
Chanakya
Also identified as Kautilya, Chanakya authored a treatise on polity named Arthashastra, which was a compilation of every thing associated to artha, or material results and home. He was a counsellor and adviser to Chandragupta and had expertise of medicine and astrology. He was also identified for his wisdom and expertise of human nature, and is compared with the likes of Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli.
Buddha
The founder of Buddhism, Buddha is one of the most critical spiritual teachers of the world who lived in between 6th and 4th century BC. The title of Buddha refers to one who is enlightened. His birthday is celebrated in a quantity of nations on diverse dates. Buddhism suggests that the cycle of rebirth is suffering and to escape from this suffering is the ultimate aim of Buddhism.
Savitribai Phule
Indian educationist and social reformer, Phule is identified as the initially female teacher of India. Jyotirao Phule, her husband and Savitribai are identified to have brought light to women’s rights in India and founded India’s initially girls’ college in Pune in 1848. By 1851, they have been effectively operating 3 girls’ schools in Pune. She worked towards abolishing gender and caste-based discrimination. She was also a well-liked Marathi writer and is normally named the mother of Indian feminism.