Kids Valley Primary School

Being right off B T Road means there is always noise from the trucks and buses passing by. But once you turn into Swami Amitananda Ramkrishna Saranik, it gets a little better. We are at 156/4. It’s a primary school, so we have kids who are starting to grow up a bit. The building has been here for years. You can see the ISI campus from nearby, which is a big landmark for everyone around here. In the morning, the tea stall at the corner is already busy when we open the doors. We spend a lot of time cleaning the desks because dust from the main road always finds its way in. The rooms are plain but we try to keep them bright. We have a routine that we follow every day, starting with the bell. The stairs are a bit narrow, so we have to tell the kids to be careful when they go up and down. During the lunch break, you can hear the chatter from all the classrooms echoing in the hallway. It’s a lively spot, even if the building looks a bit old from the outside. We’ve got some cupboards full of old books and maps that we use. By the time four o’clock rolls around, the street gets crowded again with parents waiting. It’s just how things go here in this part of Kolkata. We just keep doing our thing. The local rickshaw pullers know exactly where we are if anyone asks for directions.