Odisha: Meet Nanda Prasty, Elderly Man Teaching Children For Free For Over 75 Year

The elderly teacher, Nanda Prasty, who hails from Bartanda village, not only imparts free education to little children but also teaches the elderly at night.

The old teacher has a passion for teaching and he advises that children should be sent to primary schools after Class 4 to complete the rest of their education. Instead of earning a professional livelihood, the old man's passion has made him teach children for free for over 75 years.

Impressed by his endeavours to help children get educated, the sarpanch of the village asked him to continue his teaching in a comfortable setting by availing government assistance. However, he constantly refused it as he prefers to teach students under an old tree and continues with his job.

"I used to work on the farmlands and saw that there are too many people in our village who were illiterate. They were not even able to sign their names and were limited to thumb impressions. I called them just to teach them how to sign but many showed interest and started to read the Bhagawad Gita. I now teach the great grandchildren of the students of my first batch," Prasty told ANI.

"He has been teaching for the last 75 years. He refuses any support from the government as teaching is his passion. But we've decided to build a facility where he can teach children in comfort," the sarpanch from the Bartanda village said.

The sarpanch also stated that even the extreme weather conditions could not dissuade the old man from continuing with his job and nurturing his passion for teaching. He continues his work irrespective of the weather - be it chilly, humid, rainy or hot.

Even though the old man does not want any help from the government, but keeping his old age in mind, the village sarpanch has planned to construct a building facility and urge the man to continue his service in peace.

After the pictures of the man teaching under the old tree started doing rounds on Twitter, netizens lauded the old man's efforts in educating children free of cost and called him the 'real hero of the country.'

One Twitter user called him 'the real guru' while others referred to his passion for teaching as 'inspiring.'

"So nice to hear such inspiring news," tweeted another user.

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