Annexe Convent School

If you go down to 77 Lenin Sarani in Dharmatala, you’ll find our school. It’s a very central location in Kolkata, which means it’s always busy outside. You’ve got the trams going by, the buses, and hundreds of people walking on the sidewalk at any given hour. The school is right there in the middle of all that energy. It’s an old building, like most things in this part of the city, with high ceilings and heavy doors. When you walk inside, you can still hear the city noise, but it feels a bit more like a community. We have rows of benches and blackboards that have been used by generations of kids. The office is tucked away and is usually full of people trying to pay fees or asking about the schedule. There’s no big playground here because space is so tight in Dharmatala, so the kids make do with the hallways and the small courtyards we have. It’s a bit of a squeeze sometimes, especially during the morning assembly. The teachers have a small room where they sit during their breaks, and it’s always full of books and bags. We don’t have any fancy brochures or polished reception areas. It’s just a neighborhood school where we do our best to teach the children who live around here. It’s been this way for years, and we just keep on going day by day, making sure the bells ring on time.