The perfect connection

When they look back, Rajbinder Singh Panag and his wife Gurvinder Kaur Panag were destined to be together. And, Punjab Public School (PPS), Nabha, was to play an integral role in their meeting.

In March 1985, Rajbinder had passed out of PPS while Gurvinder had taken admission in Class 5 a year earlier. Years later, in 1998, both were back to the school — this time as teachers. In fact, their recruitment had a similar nature — both had been offered the jobs to teach by the then headmaster Col DS Khaira without interviewing either, since Rajbinder and Gurvinder were good at
academics, sports and extracurricular activities.

Working in the same environment brought Rajbinder, 45, and Gurvinder, 39, together and within a short span of time, they had developed feelings for each other.

While Rajbinder liked her simplicity, Gurvinder was enthralled by his politeness whenever they met — which was either in the staff room, on the field or while on game duty. In the meanwhile, to their fortune, a common relative Darshan Singh recommended the two as the perfect match to their families. As soon as Rajbinder and Gurvinder’s families brought up the subject of their matrimony, the two said a big yes and were tied in the bond of matrimony on April 2, 2000. Eleven years ago, they were blessed with a baby boy who is currently a student of Class 6 at PPS, Nabha.

The two laugh shyly when they recall how they were granted only a two-day leave to wrap up all wedding formalities. Though their match was solmenised by their families, Rajbinder and Gurvinder’s students take it for a ‘love marriage’ since they had known each other previously.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the teacher couple finds PPS, Nabha no less than a “heaven” for having brought them together. “We have studied here and are now teaching here. Our attachment to this institution cannot be expressed in words. All we can say is that it gave us a beautiful life,” they exclaim with a smile.

Rajbinder and Gurvinder are happy that their special bond helps them in doing better as teachers too. With both having won Dronacharya Award at the school, which is awarded to meritorious teachers, they agree that they are doing well in life because they respect each other’s individuality and share the virtue of being empathetic.