Teachers' Day: Every house in this village has a tutor

Perhaps, Kittur village in Haveri district is the only village in the state to have at least one teacher in every house.

Kittur has a population of about 3,500 and the primary profession of most of the villagers has been teaching.

Teaching, in a way, has been a family occupation for many residents for ages.

As a large number of teachers reside here, Kittur is remembered as a village of teachers.

In the last decade, over 80 residents have retired after serving as teachers for decades.

"My father S B Bhagavanthegowdru began his teaching career at Kittur. I followed his footprints and became a teacher," C S Bhagavanthegowdru, the Block Education Officers, told DH.

"Not everyone is fortunate to be a teacher to shape pupils' future," he added.

All four members of Kumar Meralihalli's family are teachers. Parents of Meralihalli's wife Pushpa are also teachers. He considers his family a complete teachers' family.

"We have chosen teaching profession for contentment, not for money" he stressed.

The tale of M D Kulkarni's family is mostly similar. Six members in his house are teachers.

"I teach for lower primary children. My student Shivaraj Harali is now a graduate assistant teacher at New Kittur," Kulkarni remarked.

The 90-year-old government school at Kittur isn't just an institution offering elementary education.

Commissioned on August 15, 1929, the school in the region is revered as the sanctum sanctorum of education.

After heavy floods divided the village in 1961, Old Kittur and New Kittur came up.

At present, about 216 teachers, the alumni of the school, serve as teachers.

"Since the colonial days, Kittur residents have given top priority to education," remarks the school headmaster Mehaboob Sab Mundargi.