Padru Gram Panchayat (Barmer), Rajasthan

Every morning, Ramlal Jingar sets out from his home, a walking stick in one hand, holding his daughter’s hand in the other, towards the school. The 35-year-old is a teacher at the government school, Balika Rajkiya Prathmik Vidyalaya in Padru gram panchayat in Barmer district, Rajasthan.

Jingar is visually challenged. An illness in childhood took away sight from both his eyes. Around the same time, when he was just five years old, his father, a daily wage labourer, passed away too. His mother, Sundar Devi, brought up Ramlal and his four sisters single handedly.

“It is my mother who made it possible for me to come this far. She worked as a labourer all her life to bring us up,” Jingar told Gaon Connection. She passed away in 2020. But before that, she did see her son make something good of his life.

In 2008, Jingar appeared for the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) exam and was selected in the category for the people with special needs. He started teaching at the government Senior Secondary School for Boys School in Padru. He taught there between 2008 and 2015, after which he shifted to the Government Balika Rajkiya Prathmik Vidyalaya, where he is now.

Jingar teaches Social Science from classes eight to class 10. “A student reads aloud from the textbook and I explain the lesson to the class. I give them the essence and synopsis of the lesson and we discuss it,” the teacher said. He also uses braille textbooks from which he teaches his students.

“Ramlal ii is a committed and disciplined teacher. And, he has always discharged his duties as a teacher perfectly, in a committed manner and with integrity,” Sandeep Mehra, Principal of the Rajkiya Balika Vidyalaya, Padru, told Gaon Connection.

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An ear for music

Jingar has an abiding love for music, he said. “I learnt to play the harmonium and dholak on my own and I became quite popular in Padru village and villages nearby. I am often invited to play the musical instruments during pujas and other functions,” the teacher added.

His mother went from pillar to post trying to get him treated. She was keen he get an education that would be able to support him. But being blind was a big hurdle.

This love for music is what he carried with him to his students. “I teach the children music and often organise the morning prayers,” he told Gaon Connection.

“Our Sir prepares us thoroughly for occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day, and encourages us to participate in various programmes,” Anita, a class seven student, told Gaon Connection.

He is also a patient and kind teacher, said fifth class student Neha Rathore. “I always understand when he teaches in class. It is all very clear and easy to grasp,” she told Gaon Connection.

The children in one voice said that they never felt that their Sir was challenged in any way.

The struggle to get educated

But before Jingar became a teacher, he struggled to get his basic education. His mother went from pillar to post trying to get him treated. She was keen he get an education that would be able to support him. But being blind was a big hurdle.

It was a doctor, Rajendra Singh from Jodhpur who got Ramlal admitted to the Netrahin Vikash Sansthan in Jodhpur. “I studied in Jodhpur till my eighth, after which I went to Ajmer to Netrahin Uchch Madhyamik Vidyalaya, where I finished my 10th in 1998, and my 12th in 2001,” Jingar said.

At this point, in order to earn some money, Ramlal opened an STD booth at the District Nahata Hospital at Baltora briefly, but had to shut it down when he had no business coming. But, he soon went on to college.

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He went back to Jodhpur to do his Bachelors, and graduated from Jai Narayan Vishwavidyalay in 2003. He obtained a Bachelor of Education from the Agrasen B.Ed College in Jaipur in 2006.

Jingar worked briefly at the Netrahin Vikas Sansthan in Jodhpur for a while teaching braille and social science to classes one to eight, before he appeared for the RPSC and became a government school teacher.

On the personal front, Ramlal wed Devkanya who was from Jodhpur in 2012. She cannot use her one arm due to a physical disability. They have two children, Gopal who is eleven years old and Khushi who is 13 years old.