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Teacher for 7 decades, 102-year-old class 7 pass out is Padma Shri winner
What endeared him to people was his refusal to charge money from his students.
Centenarian Nanda Kishore Prusty of Odisha, a Class 7 pass out who has been teaching children as well as elders around his home in Kantira village of Jajpur district, was awarded the Padma Shri on the eve of Republic Day on Monday.
“Nanda Mastre” (Nanda Master) as he is known in his village in chromite-rich Sukinda block of Jajpur district, may perhaps be the last man who has kept the tradition of “chatashali” (a non-formal school for primary education in Odisha) alive. At the break of dawn, children gather around the modest home of the 102-year-old man to learn Odia alphabets and a bit of mathematics. Elders who could not attend school during their childhood come to his home at 6 pm to learn how to sign their names.
As a young boy, being sent to his maternal uncle’s place in Jajpur district helped him to study till class 7. Soon after his uncle arranged a job for him at Cuttack. But his father was reluctant and made him stay with him to help him out in farming. India was still not a free country then.
Prusty took it upon himself the job of spreading literacy. “I would find children loafing around. They were all illiterate. Since I did not have much work, I started teaching them under a tree. There was no school then. Initially, I had to run after them, but soon they started coming,” he said.
What endeared him to others was his refusal to charge money from his students. Even more than 70 years after he started teaching, he does not take money. “I liked children and teaching. I wanted the kids to grow up and become good human beings. Money was never my concern" said Prusty, who claims to have taught at least three generations from the same family.
Kantira now has schools and colleges nearby, but villagers still send their kids to Prusty for learning the alphabets and arithmetic. “I will continue teaching the children as long as my health permits,” said Prusty.
