Saraswati Sishu Mandir

Down in Shyamdih, Katras Bazar, our school sits right in the middle of the local bustle. It’s a typical school for this area. We don't have a lot of space, but we use every inch of it. The rooms are basic, with simple chairs and boards. Most of the kids walk here from the nearby houses. You can hear the sounds of the market not too far away. We follow a very traditional way of doing things. The day starts with prayers and then we get straight into the lessons. We don't have fancy computers in every room, but the students have their books and they work hard. The teachers here work hard, often staying late to help someone out or to get the next day's work ready. It’s a dusty place, especially when the wind picks up in the dry season. We spend a lot of time sweeping and keeping the place presentable. We aren't a big institution with a lot of money. We rely on the local community and the parents who trust us with their children. It’s a plain and simple life here. We just want the kids to learn their basics and be decent people. That’s what we’ve been doing for years in Katras Bazar, and we don’t plan on changing much. It’s a lot of responsibility, but we just take it one student at a time and do what we can.