Chiraunji Lal Virendra Pal Sarasvati Vidhya Mandir Inter College

Our school has a very long name, Chiraunji Lal Virendra Pal Sarasvati Vidhya Mandir Inter College, but most people in Pilibhit just know us as the local Inter College. We are situated right in Pilibhit, and the area around us is quite typical for this part of Uttar Pradesh. You see a lot of bicycles and the occasional tractor parked nearby. The school building has been standing for quite some time, so it has that old-fashioned feel with high ceilings and big windows. We have a lot of students because we cover the older grades too. The mornings are usually quite chaotic with hundreds of kids trying to get through the main gate at the same time. I usually sit in the small cabin near the entrance to keep an eye on things and talk to the guards. The classrooms are filled with long benches and we still use the old heavy registers to mark attendance. In the winter, the mist can be quite thick here, so we sometimes start a bit later to let the sun come out. We have a large field where the boys play football, and it gets quite muddy when it rains. The teachers are strict but fair, and they’ve mostly grown up in this same town. It’s a community place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. We just keep things moving and focus on the exams that come at the end of the year. It's a lot of work but we manage it.