Jamuna Prasad Verma. Telegraph picture

Pratapgarh, Sept. 7: For years, he trudged the dusty Allahabad lanes, nameless, teaching clutches of students by the roadside, in parks and at coaching centres. Last week, he found himself in the Limca Book of Records.

Jamuna Prasad Verma, a mathematics teacher of Pratapgarh, has made the record books for teaching 151 hours at a stretch — with a four-hour break thrown in — in an Allahabad school and is now eyeing an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Newly christened the ek sau ekyavan ghanta wala masterji, the unassuming 44-year-old had performed the feat at K.P. Convent School nearly four years ago, in October 2000. Although the Limca book honoured him two years later, he got wind of it only the Sunday before the last.

Limca Book of Records, 2002, says: “Jamuna Prasad Verma of Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, taught 151 hours continuously on a variety of subjects to different groups of students at K.P. Convent school, Allahabad, between October 12 and October 18, 2000. He took a 4 hours 9 minutes break throughout the teaching programme.”

Verma’s journey began in 1978 when he moved to Allahabad to do his Masters in mathematics. Dressed in off-white shirt and loose trousers and carrying a small bag, he would be spotted in odd places teaching little groups of children for hours on end.

Village elders would be amazed at the sheer dedication with which he went about his labour of love. “He used to be seen in parks, on roadsides and in the Prayag coaching centre teaching,” said Raman Joshi, an Allahabad teacher.

A resident of Garauri, 27 km from Pratapgarh, Verma quit Allahabad in November 2000 and began teaching in Patty — a small town closer home — on the insistence of local villagers. But before that, he had already accomplished his 151-hour feat.

“I left Allahabad in November 2000. Since then, I have been busy teaching in Pratapgarh. As I had demonstrated my teaching skills in Allahabad, the Limca notification and certificate came there but nobody told me.

“It was on August 29 that the residents of Allahabad organised a programme to felicitate me,” Verma said as he pottered around his damp mud hut last Sunday, collecting his certificates to lay them out in the sun to dry.

With six sons, a wife and an old father to support, Verma has a tough time making ends meet but he betrays little emotion at the apathy with which village teachers are treated. Already, he is looking ahead at taking his next big leap, this time into the Guinness.

Verma has received a letter from A.M. Collins, the correspondent administrator of Guinness World Records, carrying details of the record he will have to break: a joint one held by two teachers for teaching continuously for 25 hours.

“For the world record, I have to teach one subject and I have set a target of 251 hours. I have decided to teach quadratic equations (an equation with unknown variables) for which I have prepared 6,000 problems,” Verma said.

But the catch is in the amount of money he will require to take a shot at the Guinness. He will have to display his skills before international experts or in the presence of deputed witnesses. The local MLA has promised to help him with funds.

“I have to do it, it is a question of life and death for me. My record can inspire many to spread education. Only education can bridge social divisions,” Verma said.

Luckily for him, his family is supportive. His 85-year-old father Saraya Prasad said: “I am illiterate but my son has Saraswati’s blessings. We never pushed him to do anything else despite hardships.”