Nanda Kishore Prusti, aged 102 years, of Kantira village of Jajpur district, who has been teaching in his school, was awarded the Padma Shri on the eve of the Republic Day on Monday.
He is known as ‘Nanda Sir’ in the village and its nearby areas. He has been teaching children since 1946. Each morning, children come to his Chatasali to learn Odia alphabets and arithmetic free of cost. “I decided to teach children for spreading literacy in the village 75 years back as at that time only a few persons in our village were literate.
I read up to Class-VII. But many of my students are now doctors, engineers, teachers and in other professions. On the Teacher’s Day on September 5, many old students come to my house,” said Prusti. Kantira now has schools and colleges nearby, but villagers still send their kids to Prusti for learning alphabets and arithmetic. “I will continue teaching children as long as my health permits,” said Prusti.
However, the fact that the nature of teacher-student relationship has changed so drastically over the years disappoints him,"These days, there is no intimacy between the teacher and the student. The teacher doesn't give the student an opportunity to get personal with him and the students don't approach teachers emotionally anymore.
It could be because the population of students is much bigger than it was in my days. Commercialisation of education destroys the good relationship of students with teacher,” said Nanda Sir.
On Wednesday, Sukinda MLA Pritiranjan Ghadai and several others felicitated Prusti at his village for getting the Padma Shri award.