Padma Shri nominee, Vidya Bharati alumnus and ex teacher, Shri Brij Lal shares his life experience from being a struggling immigrant to beloved teacher

'Legends are not created at birth but born out of hard work, struggle and dedication'.

Shri Brij Lal, a Padma Shri ( the fourth highest civilian award) nominee for 2019 is an alumnus of SMB. Gita Sr. Sec School, Railway Road, Kurukshetra and also an ex teacher of the same. Spanning across his entire 58 years of illustrious career as a teacher and school principal, several well known personalities have had the opportunity to get tutelage under him. Few of his students are :

• O.P. Galhotra, (IPS) DGP from Rajasthan honoured with President Award twice

• Shakti Pathak, IPS officer from Jammu

• Ravi Arora, Colonel (Army) officer posted in Jammu

• Ranjiv Singh, Brigadier posted in Jammu

• Roshan Lal, IAS Commissioner (Retd)

• Narotam Kaushal, Additional Session Judge

• Ajay Beniwal, ADG, UP

• Vijay Singh, C.J.M Chandigarh

Brij Lal ji has received several awards for his exceptional work in the teaching profession, such as :

• Haryana State Award in 1990 for best teacher

• Tamra Patra in the year 2016 awarded by Govt of Haryana

• Parshansha Praman Patra from board of school education, Haryana (16 times awardee)

• The Shield award, in the year 2019 awarded by Shri Manohar Lal (Chief Minister of Haryana) etc.

Brij Lial ji is immensely loved and respected by all his students. He is not only an exemplary teacher but a model human being, but his life has been full of struggles.

His childhood and early life : Born in the year 1936 in a small village of Lyallpur district now in Pakistan, he had to leave his home at 11 years of age along with his family during India - Pakistan Partition.His family took shelter in a immigration camp in Kurukshetra, Haryana where he went to a local school for camp inhabitants. 

After getting citizenship in Kurukshetra, his family took up residence in a small house with other immigrated families. In 1949, Brij Lal ji took admission in  SMB. Gita Sr. Sec School, Railway Road, Kurukshetra. 

After completing his education, he took up teaching as a profession in the year 1956 but life decided to test his will power again. During emergency period in India, the school in Karnal that he was principal at the time was closed down along with several neighbouring schools unexpectedly and he was jailed for 4 months. After his release he was banned from teaching for further 15 months. Brij Lal ji and his family had to undergo severe financial crisis during the period, but he never quit fighting. He started giving tuition to earn his livelihood. During his lifetime Brij Lal ji has worked as a teacher and principal in several schools.

Social service : Apart from being a renowned teacher, Brij Lal ji had associated himself with several social causes. He provided financial assistance to make roads in Chhachhrauli Gaon in Ambala district and Lukhi Gaon in Kurukshetra. He donated several times to help victims of natural disasters and taught needy children from slum areas free of cost.

He served as an officer at National Cadet Corps (NCC) from 1965-1985. Many of his NCC students later went on to hold  good positions in the Indian army and Indian Police.

Lesson learnt from his school : On enquiring him on his greatest lesson that he had received from his school,  Brij Lal ji goes on to narrate an incident. Once due financial crunch he had requested his school Principal of SMB. Gita to waive off his fees, but his Principal gave him a life lesson instead. His principal told him to never live upon anyone’s sympathy, but learn to earn money for himself and his family. This inspired him to become independent and he started selling vegetables in the market after school to support his education and his family's expenses.“Hath matt phalao”, became one of his greatest life lessons.

His message as a teacher : Brij Lal ji taught his students to always be truthful in life and never cheat. He told his students to be authentic and follow one’s ethics.He firmly believes that if a child is taught to never use unscrupulous methods to achieve something in life, they will follow the lesson throughout their adulthood. 

His message to students: He says if children want to become a responsible citizen of the country, they should learn Punctuality, Obedience and Hard work. They should also respect their teachers and elders.

Shri Brij Lal ji  further added, “ I'm very much thankful to everyone for being honored with so many awards and having so many gem students in my entire life”

Brij Lal ji is an inspirational human being who has spent his entire life in the service of others. His humility is heart touching and his work ethics enlightening

If you are a Vidya Bharati alumni and want to share similar story of your teacher, kindly email us at info@vidyabharatialumni.org