World champ rings the school bell, govt turns a deaf ear

Rachna Khaira

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, MARCH 7

Tejinder Pal Singh rushes around the campus of the Government Middle Senior Secondary School at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) campus, serving water and tea to the teachers, ringing the bell as per the school schedule, among his other duties.

He is the school peon, but there’s something unusual about him: The 30-year-old Tejinder is completely blind — and he has been a world champion. Tejinder is a cricketer who had to his credit a sensational win for India against Pakistan in the 2014 Blind Cricket World Cup in South Africa. He also represented the country in England in 2015, when India played T20 and one-day series against the hosts.

Embarrassment

How has he moved on from his life as a cricketer? “I feel ashamed to reveal my identity as an international player to the students,” he said. “They will get demotivated about sports if they learn that.”

“In the morning, when the students head for the school ground to play, I pick up the duster to clean their tables and the blackboards,” said Tejinder. He said that while his teammates from the 2014 World Cup win got cash awards and government jobs in states like Haryana and Kerala, he did not get any of the above. He got his job as a peon under the special category quota, not under the sports quota.

“I am responsible for cleaning the school offices and also serving water and tea to guests and school staff,” said the cricketer who was part of the team that had been applauded by even Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in 2014. “Also, I do the dusting of the school furniture and also ring the school bell.”

Tejinder said the school administration has withdrawn some of his duties after it became aware about his ‘sports stalwart’ status.

Hard luck

Tejinder, the son of a tailor at Guru Nanak Pura, lost his vision at age 6 when a medicine given to him by a quack at Nawanshahr had an adverse reaction on him. Bouncing back with determination, Tejinder found his ‘vision’ in playing cricket at a blind school in Dehradun in Uttarakhand. He first represented Uttarakhand at a state-level tournament. Later, while studying at DAV College in Chandigarh, he represented the state twice in various tournaments. He also did his MA in Hindi from Panjab University.

No change

India again won the Blind Cricket World Cup in January, and India’s team came in for praise by top politicians, but it did not change anything for Tejinder.

Woman cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur was appointed a DSP in Punjab Police for her fantastic performances last year. Noting this, Tejinder said though both of them play the same sport, there is a lot of difference in their destinies. “For me, it was a lone struggle to fight for my existence in this world by proving my mettle in cricket. No matter what, I will keep the flame alive,” he said.