Teachers’ Day was observed recently on 5^th September, giving grateful students an opportunity to thank their teachers for shaping their lives. The primary role of a teacher is to impart knowledge and facilitate learning by creating a positive environment, fostering critical thinking, and guiding every students’ academic and personal development through instruction, mentorship, and support. Teachers also serve as role models, helping students develop crucial life skills, ethical values, and social-emotional maturity while managing classrooms, collaborating with colleagues and parents, and adapting to new technologies and educational reforms. In India, students get not just one but three opportunities during the year to honour their teachers – on Teachers’ Day (5^th September); on World Teachers’ Day (5^th October); and on Guru Purnima (full moon day or Purnima, in the Hindu month of Ashadha (June-July). Let’s explore the history behind all three.

Teachers’ Day in India was first celebrated on 5 September 1962, when Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the nation’s second President and a distinguished philosopher, suggested that his birthday be marked to honour all teachers. Since then, the day has become a tribute to educators who shape generations. Globally, World Teachers’ Day is observed on 5 October, commemorating the 1966 ILO/UNESCO recommendation on the rights, responsibilities and working conditions of teachers, co-convened with UNICEF, ILO and Education International since 1994. India also celebrates Guru Purnima, most recently on 10^th July, 2025, rooted in the birth of sage Ved Vyasa, revered as the Maha Guru for dividing the Vedas and authoring the Mahabharata. The day is also sacred in Buddhism, marking Buddha’s first sermon to his disciples.

The ‘Jug-to-Mug’ Method: The ‘jug to mug’ method of teaching is purely ‘teacher-centred education’ where the teacher acts as a full jug, passively pouring knowledge into students, who are perceived as empty mugs waiting to be filled with one-way transmission of information. This method hinders the student’s creativity and critical thinking, promoting passive learning rather than active, experiential learning and critical engagement. A true teacher fosters inquiry and thinking through inquiry-based learning, which shifts students from passive recipients to active explorers by encouraging them to ask questions, explore and discover answers for themselves, leading to deeper understanding and lifelong learning. This approach builds critical thinking, problem-solving, and research skills by empowering students to take ownership of their learning in a structured yet curious environment.

Zarathushtra – The Teacher Who Taught Us To Think

Asho Zarathushtra was a poet, philosopher, prophet and a teacher par excellence. He epitomized love of wisdom through vohu mana or the good and wise mind. He even perceived the Supreme Divinity or the Creator as Ahura Mazda – the Lord or the Creator of Wisdom. For Asho Zarathushtra, ‘love of wisdom’ was the equivalent of ‘love for the Divine.’

Zarathushtra’s philosophy is simple yet profound and eternal. He believed in happiness stemming from the choices we make. These choices should be made using the principle of Asha (truth, righteous conduct and attunement with the divine order of creation). Zarathushtra also taught that we can attain the love and friendship of Mazda (Supreme Wisdom) by walking on the path of Asha! Most importantly, He taught us to think. In Yasna 30.2, Asho Zarathushtra teaches us to think or reflect before we believe or before making any choice in life and having exercised that choice, to stand responsible for it and its consequences.

Socratic Inquiry

Centuries after Asho Zarathushtra, the Greek philosopher Socrates reshaped the way the world thought about teaching and truth. Known as the ‘father of teaching,’ his hallmark was the Socratic Method, a style of inquiry that tested every idea until only truth remained. Socrates believed philosophy should serve humanity, creating an ethical system rooted in reason, not dogma. For him, true happiness was never in wealth, power or fleeting pleasures, but in living a life aligned with the spirit’s deepest good. His reminder endures: without knowing what nurtures the soul, life strays; with it, happiness follows naturally.

Socrates walked in the footsteps of Zarathushtra. He believed that to be happy we need to know what is good for us. Zarathushtra who lived long before Socrates also emphasized the importance of Ushta or happiness and in attaining happiness by exercising the right choices in life.

Zarathushtra believed that we all have twin mentalities – Angra Mainyu (Negative Mentality) and Spenta Mainyu (Positive Mentality). In life, we have the freedom to choose our path – we could think, speak and act wisely with Spenta Mainyu (Positive Mentality) or with Angra Mainyu (Negative Mentality). Happy are those who choose wisely. Indeed, Ushta or happiness is central to Zoroastrian theology and the key to happiness is given by Zarathushtra in the Ushtavaiti Gatha, “Ushta ahmai yahmai ushta Kahmai chit,” which means, “Happiness (be) to him through whom happiness (is caused) to another!”

Teaching Through Thinking

Socrates and other Greek philosophers used to congregate to discuss and debate various issues. Their discussions never went out of hand because they were bound by seven principles which were laid out in order to maintain harmony and camaraderie. Socrates called these principles Koinonia (the spirit of fellowship), and these were: 1. Establish Dialogue; 2. Exchange Ideas; 3. Don’t Argue (for the sake of argument); 4. Don’t Interrupt; 5. Listen Carefully; 6. Clarify Your Thinking; and 7. Be Honest.

Life As Teacher: Life’s experiences, circumstances and challenges provide profound and invaluable lessons that help shape individuals and teach practical skills, resilience and self-belief. This makes life itself an ever-present, untiring educator from birth to the last moment. What life teaches us often comes without formal instruction and offers wisdom on how to cope with adversity, appreciate simple joys and understand the dynamic nature of existence.

In fact, life’s challenges are fundamental to personal evolution, acting as catalysts for growth by testing our limits, fostering resilience, developing self-awareness, and teaching us valuable lessons that shape us into stronger, wiser, and more capable individuals. By embracing adversity, we move beyond mere survival to transform pain into strength, challenge into opportunity and unlock our true potential

The River As Teacher

Herman Hesse’s classic ‘Siddhartha’ beautifully shows how life, and even nature, becomes our greatest teacher. Born into privilege, Siddhartha was restless and discontented, like a fish swimming upstream. The rituals and wisdom offered by priests and teachers could not quiet his soul or satisfy his heart. As Hesse writes, despite all the knowledge poured into him, the “vessel was not full.” Siddhartha realized that wisdom cannot simply be imparted; it must be discovered through experience.

His search finally led him to a river. By observing it, Siddhartha uncovered truths he had long pursued. The river’s waters flowed endlessly, changing yet ever-present. It was the same river, yet never the same. The river taught Siddhartha that there is no such thing as time. For the river, only the present mattered. The water in the river existed in multiple places: its source, waterfalls, oceans, currents and waves. It was everywhere and in everything, but when Siddhartha viewed it, it was a river.

Siddhartha came to understand that the answers he had been seeking all his life were hidden within this very fact. He stopped viewing his life in segments, lamenting about the past and worrying about the future, realizing they’re both connected and a part of what matters most as the present!