Teacher changes gender to marry student

A schoolteacher in Rajasthan changed her gender and married one of her students on Sunday.

Meera, a physical education teacher at Bharatpur, fell in love with Kalpana Fouzdar and went through a sex change operation to marry her.

“Everything is fair in love and that is why I changed my gender,” Meera, who is now Aarav Kuntal, told reporters.

Meera met Kalpana during physical education classes at the school. Kalpana played kabaddi at the state level and is reportedly set to travel to Dubai for an international kabaddi tournament in January.

Aarav said he fell in love with Kalpana during their interactions on the school playground but that he had always wanted to be a boy. “I was born a girl but I always thought I was a boy. I always wished to undergo surgery to change my gender. I had my first surgery in December 2019,” he said.

Kalpana, the bride, said she had been in love with Aarav for long and would have married him even if he had not undergone the surgery.

“I loved him from the start. Even if he had not done this surgery, I would have married him. I went with him for the surgery,” Kalpana said.

Their wedding, although unconventional and still rare in India, has been accepted by their parents.