Bharath Senior Secondary School

Down in Adyar, at 10, Kamaraj Avenue, you will find our school. It is a pretty well-known spot around here. The area has changed a lot over the years, with new shops and more cars everywhere, but the school stays mostly the same. We have the usual routine that starts early in the morning. If you come by around eight, you'll see a lot of cycles and yellow buses. The staff room is usually a bit messy with papers and coffee mugs, which is just how it goes when you’re busy teaching. We spend a lot of time in those classrooms. It gets hot in the afternoons, especially in the summer months, but we have fans going and the kids don’t seem to mind as much as the adults do. Sometimes the power goes out and we just have to open the windows wider. Bharath Senior Secondary School isn't a museum; it is a place where things actually happen, so there are scuff marks on the walls and the playground dirt gets everywhere. We don’t try to act like we are something we aren’t. It’s just a school in a busy part of Chennai. Most of the parents who bring their kids here grew up in this same neighborhood. It feels like a small community even though the city is huge. We just focus on the textbooks and the daily schedule without making a big fuss about it.