Common Grounds International Academy

Our academy is over at No 5/306 on the Sarovaram Bio-Park Road. Being near the Civil Station Post in Eranhipalam means we’re in a fairly central part of Kozhikode, but the Bio-Park road has its own pace. It’s not as loud as the main markets. The building we’re in is pretty straightforward. We have a few rooms for classes and an office that usually has too many papers on the desk. You’ll find people coming in for various courses, and there’s always a bit of chatter near the water cooler. It’s an academy, but it feels more like a local hangout sometimes because everyone knows each other. The windows look out towards the road, and you can see the rain coming down hard during the monsoon months. We don’t have a big lobby with a receptionist in a suit. Usually, you just walk in and find whoever is available. We spend a lot of time talking to students about their plans and trying to fix the internet when it goes down. Kozhikode is a nice place to be, and Eranhipalam is a solid neighborhood. We just do our thing here, keeping the doors open and making sure the classrooms are ready. It’s a simple operation, run by people who live nearby and just want to get through the work week like everyone else. It’s not perfect, but it works for us.