Cakes and pastries flew off shelves from various shops in Motihari on Teachers’ Day, but most students appeared clueless about what they were celebrating.

When The Telegraph asked some students at different coaching institutes about Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India, they did not know what to say. Prem Chandra Pandey, a teacher, lamented that many coaching institutes had come up “like mushrooms”, but failed to impart basic education.

Confectionery shop owners, however, did not complain. “We got bulk orders and ran out of stock by 10am,” said Ashok Grover, an owner of one such shop.