The deepest lesson: Greatness beyond medals and titles [Teachers' Day Special]

Teachers' Day is a moment to celebrate those who shape lives not just in classrooms, but in every sphere where learning and values are nurtured. It is a day to remember that teaching is not about lessons written on a board, but about lives written into the hearts of others. And sometimes, the most powerful lessons are taught not by words, but by extraordinary acts of courage and selflessness.

The Day a Champion Dove into Darkness

Forty-one years ago, a Soviet athlete walked away from professional sports forever. At first glance, it might seem like just another forgotten story, one of thousands in the sporting world. But this one is different.

We are talking about Shavarsh Karapetyan, an 11-time world record holder, 17-time world champion, 13-time European champion, and 7-time USSR champion. Athletes with such records are counted on the fingers of one hand. And yet, at the very peak of his fame, he suddenly left it all behind.

Why? Because of a single day that changed everything.

On September 16, 1976, in Yerevan, Armenia, a crowded trolleybus fell off a dam into a lake, sinking instantly with 92 passengers trapped inside. The scene was one of chaos and despair.

Along the shore that morning, a champion swimmer named Shavarsh Karapetyan happened to be on his training run. What he did next would later be described by experts as impossible. He plunged into the freezing, muddy water, kicked through the rear glass of the trolleybus, and began pulling people out, one by one.

For over 20 relentless minutes, he fought against darkness, cold, and his own limits. When rescuers finally arrived, 20 people were alive because of him.

Later, he admitted what haunted him most:

"In that zero-visibility water, I grabbed anything I could feel.
Once, I surfaced holding only a seat cushion instead of a person.
I realized that my mistake had cost someone their life.
That cushion haunted my dreams for years."

The price of his heroism was staggering: severe pneumonia, sepsis, and permanent damage to his lungs, ending his career as a swimmer forever. He became disabled, never to compete again.

But what he lost as an athlete, he multiplied a thousandfold in the richness of his humanity. This was not merely a story of sacrifice, it was a story of nobility, courage, honor, love, selflessness, and service to something far greater than oneself.

A Parallel from India's Own Soul

India, too, has known such moments — where greatness was measured not in titles, but in selfless action. One of the most poignant parallels is the story of Dashrath Manjhi, known as the "Mountain Man" of Bihar.

For 22 years, armed with nothing but a hammer and chisel, he carved a 110-meter-long road through a mountain so that his isolated village could reach hospitals, schools, and markets.
He did it alone, enduring mockery and hardship, simply because he could not bear to see others suffer as his wife once did.

Like Karapetyan, Manjhi had no expectation of reward or recognition. His hands were his tools, his heart his only guide. When asked why he had given his life to this task, he said humbly:

"For the people. So no one else dies without help."

Both men, one diving into icy waters, the other cutting through stone, embody the timeless Indian ideal of "seva," or selfless service. They are living lessons, as profound as any text or scripture.

The Ultimate Lesson for Teachers Day

Teachers' Day is not only about honoring educators; it is about recognizing anyone who teaches by example. In a world obsessed with medals, wealth, and power, Karapetyan's dive and Manjhi's mountain remind us of a deeper truth: Greatness is not in what we achieve for ourselves, but in what we give to others.

Our youth today stand at the edge of a rapidly changing world. Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing will reshape careers and societies. But no technology will ever replace human character, or the heart's instinct to save and serve.

As Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, whose birth anniversary we celebrate today, once said: "The end-product of education should be a free creative man, who can battle against historical circumstances and adversities of nature."

Shavarsh and Manjhi were not trained in classrooms for their heroic acts. Yet they lived the very essence of what true teaching should inspire freedom, creativity, and moral courage.

Passing the Torch

As we honor our teachers today, let us commit to teaching not just skills, but values:

To our children: teach that courage matters more than comfort.

To our leaders: remind them that service matters more than status.

To ourselves: remember that our legacy will be measured by lives touched, not titles earned.

The world will always need scientists, entrepreneurs, and professionals. But above all, it will need human beings who dare to dive into the darkness for others, as Shavarsh did, or carve a path through mountains, as Manjhi did.

The Dive That Never Ends

Forty-one years have passed since that fateful morning in Armenia. The cheers of stadiums have faded, but the ripples of Shavarsh's dive still spread across the world. They remind us that even in an age of machines and algorithms, the greatest force is a single, selfless act of love.

For in the end, true education is not about rising higher but about diving deeper into service, into sacrifice, into the very heart of humanity.

[Major General Dr Dilawar Singh, a Ph.D. with multiple postgraduate degrees, is a seasoned expert with over four decades of experience in military policy formulation and counter-terrorism. He has been the National Director General in the Government of India. He has been regularly contributing deep insights into geostrategy, global economics, military affairs, sports, emerging technologies, and corporate governance.]