It is hard to keep up with the energy of Ayodhya Kumari Gaur. The 80-year-old runs Maharishi Public School in Jodhpur, which she began in 2001.
“It is Hindi medium, but we also teach English and Urdu. I realise the importance of knowing English,” she laughed.
It is not often that an educator spends the first 15 years of her life unlettered. From Jaipur and a conservative home where sending girls to school was not ever considered, Ayodhya Kumari did not receive any education. She could neither read, nor write till she was 15 years old. But when her father’s friend’s wife who ran a school urged her to study, she started.
“In 1957, I began to study with children half my age, but that was not a problem and in fact I learnt a lot from them. I mastered the Hindi alphabets, numbers, even some basics of science, but struggled with English,” Ayodhya Kumari told Gaon Connection. But she persisted. And, as it was with girls in those days, she had to discontinue as she wed in 1962, at an age of 18 years, and moved to Jodhpur.
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“I became a wife and then a mother of two and of course, studying was put on the backburner, but the fire remained. A full 15 years later, I managed to privately pass the class 10 exams, when I was 31 years old,” Ayodhya Kumari Gaur said. “Then there was a gap again and I completed my intermediate and then my Bachelors in Kamala Nehru Vidyalaya in 1985 or so. Finally, in 1990, I did my B.Ed from Kota Open University, at the same time my daughter was doing her B.Ed elsewhere,” she added.
In 2001, when she was in her mid 50s, she started the Maharishi Public School in Jodhpur, which was an extension of her home.
“I have seen the problems children face in getting an education. Some cannot afford the fees. Money always comes in the way of good education, but I ensure it is not the case in my school,” she said.
For this 80-year-old, there are some non-negotiable foundations of teaching every teacher ought to have. “It is all about understanding. Age has nothing to do with it. I am an example of someone who learnt to read at fifteen. I am a teacher today. If a teacher and student understand each other there is no stopping progress,” she said.
It has been a long journey, full of speed breakers and obstacles, but also full of learning and joy, the teacher said. She failed exams several times and had to reappear, she missed classes, was forced to take long breaks in her journey of learning, but she never gave up.
From Jaipur and a conservative home where sending girls to school was not ever considered, Ayodhya Kumari did not receive any education.
Today, she continues to teach and said she liked to spend more time with the younger children to ensure their foundations in learning were strong and deep. “It is learning and imparting knowledge that has allowed me to remain fit. As long as I am teaching, I can live to be a hundred,” Ayodhya Gaur smiled.
