Palitana High School

In Palitana, people know where the high school is because we’ve been here in Bhavnagar for a long time. The building is old but it stays cool in the summer because of the thick walls. I walk to work through the streets of the town, passing the local vendors and the houses I’ve known for years. Once I get inside the school, there’s a specific smell of old paper and wood that’s always there. We have big windows in the classrooms that look out over the area. The furniture is heavy and made to last, though it has plenty of scratches from all the students who have sat there. We don't have a huge staff, so we all end up doing a bit of everything, whether it’s teaching or helping fix a broken fence in the yard. The bell we use is an old manual one, and everyone knows the sound of it. During the breaks, the kids fill the courtyard and it gets very loud, but that’s how it should be. We just try to keep things orderly and make sure the students are actually in their seats when the lessons start. It’s not a complicated life. We have our books and our blackboards, and that’s enough for us. When the day ends, I lock up the main doors and walk back home through the same streets, usually thinking about what needs fixing tomorrow or next week.