Kakathiya Vidyalayam

In Marripallygudem, things are usually pretty slow, but our school stays busy from morning until late afternoon. Karimnagar is the district, but we are definitely in a more rural setting here. The school building is a modest one, with a few blocks of classrooms and a small courtyard in the middle. We don't have a big gate or a paved parking lot. It’s mostly just gravel and some grass where the kids play during their breaks. The teachers come in from the nearby villages, some on cycles and others on old scooters. We have a routine that hasn't changed much in a decade. We start with the morning prayer, and then it’s just one lesson after another. The classrooms have high ceilings to help with the heat, but it still gets stuffy in the afternoons. We spend a lot of time on the basics, making sure the kids can read and write properly. Sometimes we have to deal with minor things like a broken desk or a leaky tap in the washroom. We don't have a maintenance crew, so we usually just fix it ourselves or call someone from the village. It’s a very local operation. We aren’t trying to be the biggest or the most modern place around. We just want to provide a space where the local kids can come and learn. It's just a regular spot in the village where we spend our working hours.