Teacher undergoes gender change surgery to marry student in Rajasthan's Deeg

Bharatpur: The adage "Everything is fair in love and war" was proven true in the town of Deeg in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

Meera Kuntal, a physical education teacher at the Government Secondary School here, has undergone gender change surgery to become a male and now goes by the name Aarav Kuntal.

After the gender change, Aarav married Kalpana, his student from the school. They fell in love while in school, but the same gender was creating problems in their lives. That is when he decided to change gender. Speaking about their love affair, Kalpana told ANI, "I loved him from the beginning. Even if he had not undergone this surgery, I would have married him. I went along with him for the surgery."

Aarav, informing about his gender change, said that he was unable to accept his body. He felt trapped within his body. It was way back in 2010 that he came across a newspaper cutting from where he got to know about the surgery and since then wanted to get it done. And, after much research and consideration, they finally zeroed in on Dr Narendra Kaushik of Olvec Hospital in Delhi.

Speaking to ANI, Aarav Kuntal, the teacher who changed his gender said, "I always wished to undergo surgery to change my gender. I had my first surgery on 25 December 2019." His surgery was conducted in phases and lasted three years, which ended in December 2021.

Talking about his son, Aarav's father Veeri Singh said that he never felt as if he was a girl. Aarav (Meera) was always proactive in sports and has never worn the attire of a girl. He always dressed as a boy and we supported him. Aarav's father said, "My other four daughters tie Rakhi to Aarav now and their children call him 'Mama' (maternal uncle)".

Aarav (Meera earlier), was a physical education teacher and coach of Kabaddi in the school where Kalpana studied. Meera trained Kalpana and she performed excellently in tournaments. Under Meera's guidance, Kalpana played for the nationals in Kabaddi while she was in senior secondary and currently is an international player. Their love blossomed during the coaching and Kalpana stood by Aarav's side throughout his three-year journey of the sex reassignment surgery.

They finally married on the 4 November 2022 and both their families have accepted their decision and are happy and supportive. Kalpana is all set to play in the International Pro-Kabaddi tournament in Dubai scheduled in January 2023. (ANI)