Two years ago despite opposition from family and society, a 26-year-old Hindu youth and a 24-year-old Muslim girl from Rajkot decided to get married. But instead of seven, the couple took eight vows while tying the nuptial knot.

Along with the promise to stand by each other, they decided not to have children. This was no DINK double income, no kids couple who thought it’s fashionable not to have kids but a dedicated duo who’d decided to work for under-privileged children even if it meant having none of their own.

Not that the kids of Shivshakti Mafatiyapara are less than family for Jitu and Rehana who’ve turned a hut near Savani Kidney Hospital into a school. It has no building, no benches, no fee and the kids don’t have to wear a uniform or carry heavy bags, but this Kalrav Balkendra offers a whole new learning experience. Mornings are when the children are taught arts and craft. In the afternoon, the slum children return to help parents out with work. They reassemble at 5 pm for formal education.

‘‘We love children. It was while working with an NGO for children in Bhuj post-quake that we decided to devote our lives to the education of deprived children,’’ says Jitu, who has a diploma from ITI. It was Jitu’s idea, too, not to have children.

‘‘I had never thought that I would not have my own children. But, eventually, I realised that Jitu was right: it would be selfish to love only our children. Having our own kids would mean that our time and love would get divided. It was after taking this decision that we fixed our marriage,’’ says Rehana, an MA Gujarati.

New Delhi: Terming the teachers as nation-builders, PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday declared himself a teacher who does not know how he landed in politics. “I am basically a teacher. I do not know how I landed in politics,” Singh said at a function at his residence to felicitate the national award winning teachers on Teachers’ Day. Terming his teaching days as “best days” of his life, he said “teaching is my first love”. Singh had taught at Punjab University and Delhi School of Economics. —PTI

The couple, who has settled at Munjka village outside Rajkot, says they’ve found fulfilment in educating slum dwellers of nearby areas. ‘‘Presently, we teach around 50 children between the ages of 3 and 8.

But the good news is we have been able to convince the parents of 40 others so from this year, more will take admission,’’ says Jitu.

‘‘We teach them from textbooks of Standard I to V. Our school is not recognised but our emphasis is on teaching hygiene and manners as well as some formal education. Our main aim is to convince parents to enrol their kids in school,’’ says Rehana.