THE VALUE OF TEACHER - STUDENT RELATIONSHIP

                                                                                    -- By MILAN K SINHA

                     Today is birth day of a great teacher & statesman  Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the 2nd President of Indian Union. We celebrate this day as Teachers' Day. The important place of a teacher in everyone's life was stressed very forcefully by the great mystic poet, philosopher & saint, Kabir in the following lines:

                              गुरु  गोविन्द   दोउ  खड़े  काको  लागूँ  पाँव 

                                    बलिहारी गुरु आपने जो गोविन्द दियो बताय .

        Let us also go through some of the philosophical ideas & sayings on the subject :

• It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge --Albert Einstein, the Great Scientist & Nobel Prize Winner.
• The Task of the teacher is to stimulate apparently ordinary people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is making winners out of ordinary people. --Patricia Cross, Famous Scholar of Educational Research
• I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. --Lily Tomlin, American Actress, Writer & Producer.
• If a great country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher. -- A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, Former President of India & Reputed Scientist.
• I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well. -- Alexander the Great.

                        One of our very popular &  widely respected  presidents,  A.P.J.Abdul Kalam in his famous book, "Wings of Fire" writes about his early formative day teacher. He writes,"My teacher, Iyadurai Soloman, was an ideal guide for an eager young mind that was yet uncertain of the  possibilities and alternatives that lay before it. He made his students feel very comfortable in class with his warm and open minded attitude.... He (Solomon) instilled in all the children a sense of their own worth . Solomon raised my self esteem to a high point and convinced me , the son of parents who had not had the benefits of education, that I too could aspire to become whatever I wished...." 

           Finally, a very inspiring real life short story of Alexander the Great & his renowned teacher, Aristotle: 

 "In the course of a journey both  Alexander and Aristotle  found a river to be crossed to reach the other side, but none of them had the idea how deep was the river. As such, there was risk in crossing it. Aristotle marched forward to cross the river first, but Alexander stopped him and insisted instead to let him cross first with his extremely touching & inspiring argument. He (Alexander) said, you are my teacher and I am your student. Even though I die, you can produce hundreds of Alexander, but if you die, I can't produce another Aristotle. It filled Aristotle with unbounded pride and made him speechless". 

                   Whatever little has been discussed above will prove worthwhile only if we heartily salute such good  teachers and bless such promising students who are still in large numbers in our society. This day also provide us with an opportunity to introspect, ponder & act, if we are falling short of performing our basic duty either as a teacher or as a student. All the Best.