Teacher-turned-politicians: Mayawati, Mulayam, Swamy and other Indian politicians who once donned gurus' cap

New Delhi: Teachers are the ones who protect us when we fall and who give us the most important lessons in life. Perhaps it is a small recognition of their contribution to the society that each year, on September 5, the nation celebrates Teacher's Day to honor our dear mentors.

On the occasion of Teachers' Day on Tuesday, we prepare a list of India’s most famous politicians whose earlier profession was teaching. 

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Dr. Sarvepalli had many achievements to his credit. As a teacher, he taught students at Calcutta University and Chennai's Presidency College from the years 1931- 1936. In the year 1936, he became the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford, a position he retained for 16 years. He was born on September 5, 1888, in Madras's Thiruttani, he was known for his inspirational teaching style. It's in his honor that India celebrates this day as the Teachers' Day.

Mayawati
The 17th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati started her career as a school teacher in Inderpuri JJ Colony, New Delhi.  At the same time, she was also preparing for the Indian Administrative Services exams, when SC&ST politician Kanshi Ram visited her family home in 1977. Impressed by her speaking skills and ideas, Kanshi Ram included her as a member of his team when he founded the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. 

Mulayam Singh Yadav
The former Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav is a trained teacher and initially worked as a lecturer in Karhail in Uttar Pradesh. He is also a celebrated wrestler. Yadav served three non-consecutive terms as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Shivraj Patil
The former union home affairs minister and Lok Sabha speaker, Patil was a lecturer at Bombay University.

Subramian Swamy
Before starting his career in politics, he was a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi here taught Mathematical Economics.

Tathagata Roy
It is a well known fact that Tathagata Roy was Politician, engineer, and author, earlier he was a teacher at Jadavpur University.He taught engineering students before he started a political career.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
India's 11th president and great scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management at Shillong Ahmedabad, and Indore and an honorary fellow of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He also taught information technology at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad and technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University and various other institutions.

Dr. Manmohan Singh
Before becoming India’s 14th President, Dr. Manmohan Singh started his career as a professor of economics at Punjab University and went on to teach at the prestigious Delhi School of Economics at the University of Delhi before entering politics.

Pranab Mukherjee
India's 13th President Pranab Mukherjee was a professor in a college in West Bengal's Birbhum District. He also tried journalism before becoming a member of Rajya Sabha.