[4] He drew on the concept of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53[5] to identify Jesus himself as a Dalit – "a waiter, a dhobi, and bhangi.
He spent his early years in Jalna, attending school and went to college at Milind Mahavidyalaya in Aurangabad.
After studying for his BD at UTC Bangalore[6] he was ordained a priest in the Church of North India and he served as a rural pastor for several years in the Jalna area, including at Kharpudi and Dahipuri villages.
During the early 1960s, Nirmal became an aspirante and studied Bachelor of Divinity (BD) during the years 1962-1965[6] at the United Theological College, Bangalore during the Principalship of the Systematic Theologian Joshua Russell Chandran.
[6] In the ensuring convocation of the Senate of Serampore College (University), Nirmal was awarded a B. D. by then Registrar, Chetti Devasahayam.