Mangalayatan University

We’ve been here in Mathura for a while now, right on the highway going towards Aligarh. It’s a big campus, lots of green space which is nice when the Uttar Pradesh sun gets really heavy in the afternoons. Most days start pretty early here. You see students walking from the hostels, some looking tired and others rushing for their first lectures. We’ve got different buildings for different subjects, and there’s always someone moving something or fixing a desk somewhere. It isn't always quiet, especially during the breaks when everyone heads for the canteen area. The trees we planted a few years back are finally providing some decent shade now. People come from all over India to stay here, so you hear a lot of different languages in the corridors. We deal with a lot of paperwork and keep the classrooms ready. It’s a lot of work keeping a place this size running. Sometimes the electricity acts up or a pipe leaks, and we just get on with fixing it. The local monkeys around Mathura sometimes visit the roofs too, which keeps things interesting. It’s just a regular place where people come to learn and we try to keep the lights on and the benches clean. There’s no big mystery to it, just daily work in the heat. We like the way the sun sets over the main gate and wait for the evening cool-down to start. It feels like a small town inside a bigger one.