Haryana : Azad Singh steps out of his computer lab to call his students in for a class, one wonders if anyone will pay heed. But surprisingly, at his call, a posse of girls – who tower over him – come rushing to the laboratory. He orders them to mind their ways, stop giggling and start working on their terminals.

The command and respect didn’t come easy, says Kalpana Singh, the principal of the Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Badshahpur, Haryana, where Azad teaches.

At 22, Azad stands 3-feet tall and is perhaps the shortest teacher in the world. He stopped growing at the age of five. At 18, he was mistaken for a baby and labelled a circus freak, but he has achieved his dream of becoming a teacher.

He landed his first job, that of a computer lab assistant in the small town, three months ago. He was the incharge of a single computer in the principal’s room. Over time, Azad earned the responsibility of maintaining 22 computers at the school and is now a computer teacher.

His father Bahadur Singh says he doesn’t know what caused his son and his daughter, Lakshmi, who is in Class XII, to remain stunted. “We tried many doctors but nobody knew what was wrong with them. But it’s all right now. We have come to terms with it,” Bahadur said. “The only problem,” he added, “is thequeue of people who line up at our doorstep to see and mock at the 3-foot man.”

Azad’s youngest sister Suman, 15, attends the secondary school where he teaches, and drives him to work every day on her moped.

Life has been bittersweet for Azad. Though he has managed to earn respect at his school, Azad is not sure if his three-month-old contract would be renewed in June. It is with his Rs.4,000 per month salary that most of the provisions at his home come from.

But Azad has hopes and his next aim is to open a computer shop and training centre. “I am reading more and talking to people to make it a reality,” says Azad.