Sri Balaji Academy

Our place is Shop No. 3 in the Kumar Complex over in Gorakhpur. It’s a small shop that we turned into a classroom. It’s right in the middle of a busy local market area, so there’s always people moving about. Sri Balaji Academy has been here in this specific spot for quite some time. Since it’s a shop space, it’s not huge, but we’ve organized it so there’s enough room for about twenty students at a time. We have a couple of whiteboards and some benches that have seen better days. It feels very much like a part of the neighborhood. People stop by to ask questions while they’re out doing their shopping. We don’t use any big slogans; we just teach the lessons. Most of our students come from the nearby schools in the Gorakhpur area. It’s a very practical arrangement. We open up in the morning and keep things going until the evening. Sometimes it gets a little hot in the summer, but the fans do their job well enough. It’s a local business run by local people. We just aim to help the kids pass their tests and understand their subjects a bit better. We keep a stash of extra pens in the drawer because someone always forgets theirs. It's just a small, noisy, but hardworking little corner of the market. We take a break when the market finally quietens down a bit.