Sports teacher a real-life hero!

Kabir Khan is Irfan Ahmad. From honing sporting skills and spirit of his students to making sure they stay fit, to helping them land This is Dausa's very own 'Chak De' moment. And doing a real-life government jobs, he's telling them the importance of learning to lose gracefully, this sports teacher is a real-life hero! For 20 continuous years, students from this government school have been participating in state, district and national games. 

Over 15 students have taken part in nationals and over 300 at state-level games. "I couldn't achieve what I could have in sports due to lack of guidance in my school. So I do whatever I can to encourage and guide the students. Many of them have got police and railway jobs in sports quota. That gives me a lot of satisfaction," says Irfan Ahmad, a physical instructor, Kallawas government school, Dausa. It's no chance phenomenon that every student in this government school plays one sport or the other not just that the number of students this humble school has sent for national and state level games is no mean feat. It's in fact the result of their rare sort of a sports teacher who eats, sleeps and lives sports. A keen sports buff, Ahmad has ensured that the sports curriculum is a healthy mix of badminton, table tennis, Kabaddi, football and Kho kho. That explains why the school - once known for its poor attendance record - is now known primarily as a sports school. And leading from the front are the girls who are now channelising their energies in a productive manner. Hina, national player, Kallawas, Dausa, says, "Right from convincing our parents to let us play and travel for tournaments to keeping newspaper cuttings of other students' achievements to encourage us in the school assembly, to telling us how it can get us jobs and playing with us." For Hina and his other students, Irfan Ahmad is an inspiration, a real-life Shah Rukh Khan and while they dream of doing a Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal for India someday, he hopes of seeing at least one of them play at an international tournament.