Nehru Memorial Model School

Down in Attupuram, Kadakkal, you’ll find our school sitting right where the road curves. It’s a quiet area mostly, surrounded by plenty of green trees and the kind of fresh air you don’t get in the big cities. The school building is a simple structure that has seen many rainy seasons over the years. We have basic classrooms with wooden benches that have names carved into them from students who left a decade ago. Every morning, the children walk in from the surrounding villages, their shoes usually a bit dusty by the time they arrive. We don’t have fancy high-tech gadgets in every room, just the usual boards, books, and maps hanging on the walls. The playground is mostly dirt and grass, which gets a bit muddy when it pours, but that doesn’t stop anyone from playing football during the break. There’s a small well nearby and a few sheds for shade. Our staff room is just a bunch of tables pushed together where we grade papers and drink ginger tea. It’s an honest sort of place. We focus on the daily work of reading and writing without making much of a fuss about it. People in Kadakkal know where we are, and we’ve become a bit of a landmark in this part of Attupuram. It’s not a shiny new facility, but it’s a place where work gets done every single day.