Many Ways to Wisdom: Dr. Radhakrishnan, Hinduism, and Discovering How You Learn

Every year on Sept 5th, we remember Dr.Radhakrishnan. For me, he was just “the reason we celebrate Teacher’s Day”. The reason we got to skip regular classes and pretend to be teachers for a day (which was mostly to boss around younger kids). But this year, something shifted. Maybe it was because I have been deep diving into Devakrti or maybe I was just procrastinating on my actual work, but my eyes fell on the book that were mentioned in the Google Knowledge Panel of Dr.Radhakrishnan - “The Hindu Way of Life”, “Recovery of Faith”. They felt like they were calling out to me. So naturally, I just googled them and got an online version of The Recovery of Faith and started reading it. (Link recovery of faith to https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.51580/page/32/mode/2up).

Even after a few pages, I was struck by the way he spoke about Hinduism. It was like one of the rare moments where someone’s words perfectly captures your thoughts. He sees Hinduism not as a set of rules but as a living tradition where there’s space for questioning, devotion, action, and reflection. 

It was like he’d been eavesdropping on our Devakrti conversations :P! We’ve been trying to show people that Hinduism is not just about praying to god or going to temples or doing pooja - it is a way of life. And here was this brilliant man saying the exact same thing decades ago. But what really got me was his words on science and religion. He says science is for illuminating the mind while religion is for the heart. And, they are not enemies but more like, dance partners. In 2025, exactly 30 years later, we are still fighting the same battle between logic and faith, this felt revolutionary and comforting all at once. 

Meanwhile, as I went down the rabbit hole of his speeches, I noticed something fascinating. Whether it was religion or education, he consistently said that there is no one size fits all approach. In religion, he said that anyone can explore it in whichever way they want and when it comes to knowledge -especially education, he encouraged a broader curriculum, something that combines methods like lectures, discussions, activities so that it caters to different approaches of learning. 

This reminded me of how things are today. We live in the age of infinite learning options. Online courses, masterclasses, YouTube tutorials, podcasts, bootcamps. We’re drowning in options. But the real question is — do we know how we learn best? Each of us have different learning styles, yet most of us are trying to fit into the same mold.

For me, this feels personal. Growing up, I thought the “right” way to study was to sit still, be quiet, and memorize. If I couldn’t, I thought I wasn’t good enough. But later I realized — I learn best when I ask questions, challenge ideas, and connect them back to stories. That’s when things stick.

So here we are, blessed with more learning opportunities than any generation in history. Before we enrol in that next course or sign up for another workshop, maybe we should ask ourselves: Do I actually know how I learn best?

This Vijayadasami — the day we honor learning and new beginnings — felt like the perfect time to turn this realization into something practical. So we've created a short quiz to help you discover your learning style.

It's not about putting you in a box or telling you what's "right" or "wrong." It's about finding your rhythm, so the next time you start something new, you feel flow instead of friction.

Because maybe that's the real wisdom Dr. Radhakrishnan was pointing us toward: whether in spirituality or learning, we don't need to squeeze ourselves into predetermined shapes. There's room for many paths, many types of seekers.

The question isn't whether you're learning the "right" way. The question is: are you learning in your way?

Take the quiz here.