04-06-2008, 01:37 PM
<b>Armed with PhD, this chowkidar teaches post-grads</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi
He takes post-graduate classes during daytime and keeps guard of the library building at Arts Faculty of Delhi University in the night.
Fifty-two-year-old Rajkishore Pandey, who has taken PhD on A comparative study on Adhyatma and Ananda Ramayana in the Valmiki Ramayana from the Delhi University and teaches Sanskrit to post-graduate students, is a permanent chowkidar in the Delhi University.
Despite being on the wrong side of the age now, Rajkishore still appears for interviews for the selection of university teachers and devotes most of his time in the library he guards. His son is also a PhD in Hindi from the same university.
"I teach Valmiki Ramayana to post-graduate students at South Campus. I take three classes in a week. All classes are held in the morning. From 5 pm onwards, I am on duty at Arts Faculty," says Rajkishore.
Rajkishore, who got married when he was 10, has spent more than 22 years guarding the campus. He came to the Capital from Tiwaripur in Uttar Pradesh in 1980 armed with an intermediate certificate from his village school and started as a daily-wage worker at the DU. He later became a security guard.
Rajkishore did his graduation from Shivaji College, MA from Hansraj College and PhD in the year 2000 from DU. He took special permission from the then Vice-Chancellor for taking PhD degree. "I regularly apply for teacher's or lecturer's post in different universities.
On several occasions, I was about to be appointed. But all of them fizzled out in the last moment. It seems the fact that I am a chowkidar had worked against me. I could never convince the interviewers that I could be as good or bad a lecturer as any other qualified person is," he said.
Rajkishore was even offered a clerk's job by DU but he refused it saying that he would either become a lecturer or remain a chowkidar. "Now, I really wish that my son doesn't face a similar problem and becomes a good teacher," he added.
When Rajkishore arrives for duty, he is an epitome of a chowkidar. His colleagues, teachers of various departments and students are all praises for him.
Some say his academic success is an example of hardwork while others hold the anti-poor mindset of administrators as the reason for his professional failure.
Curriculum vitae
Name: Rajkishore Pandey
Graduation from Shivaji College
MA from Hansraj College
PhD from DU
Topic of study: A comparative study on Adhyatma and Ananda Ramayana in the Valmiki Ramayana
Aim in life: Either become a lecturer or remain a chowkidar. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi
He takes post-graduate classes during daytime and keeps guard of the library building at Arts Faculty of Delhi University in the night.
Fifty-two-year-old Rajkishore Pandey, who has taken PhD on A comparative study on Adhyatma and Ananda Ramayana in the Valmiki Ramayana from the Delhi University and teaches Sanskrit to post-graduate students, is a permanent chowkidar in the Delhi University.
Despite being on the wrong side of the age now, Rajkishore still appears for interviews for the selection of university teachers and devotes most of his time in the library he guards. His son is also a PhD in Hindi from the same university.
"I teach Valmiki Ramayana to post-graduate students at South Campus. I take three classes in a week. All classes are held in the morning. From 5 pm onwards, I am on duty at Arts Faculty," says Rajkishore.
Rajkishore, who got married when he was 10, has spent more than 22 years guarding the campus. He came to the Capital from Tiwaripur in Uttar Pradesh in 1980 armed with an intermediate certificate from his village school and started as a daily-wage worker at the DU. He later became a security guard.
Rajkishore did his graduation from Shivaji College, MA from Hansraj College and PhD in the year 2000 from DU. He took special permission from the then Vice-Chancellor for taking PhD degree. "I regularly apply for teacher's or lecturer's post in different universities.
On several occasions, I was about to be appointed. But all of them fizzled out in the last moment. It seems the fact that I am a chowkidar had worked against me. I could never convince the interviewers that I could be as good or bad a lecturer as any other qualified person is," he said.
Rajkishore was even offered a clerk's job by DU but he refused it saying that he would either become a lecturer or remain a chowkidar. "Now, I really wish that my son doesn't face a similar problem and becomes a good teacher," he added.
When Rajkishore arrives for duty, he is an epitome of a chowkidar. His colleagues, teachers of various departments and students are all praises for him.
Some say his academic success is an example of hardwork while others hold the anti-poor mindset of administrators as the reason for his professional failure.
Curriculum vitae
Name: Rajkishore Pandey
Graduation from Shivaji College
MA from Hansraj College
PhD from DU
Topic of study: A comparative study on Adhyatma and Ananda Ramayana in the Valmiki Ramayana
Aim in life: Either become a lecturer or remain a chowkidar. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->