National Kannada Education Society High School

Our school sits on Indulal D Bhuva Marg over in Wadala West. It’s a bit of an older part of Mumbai, and the school has that same lived-in feel to it. The name is a bit of a mouthful, so most people just know us as the school on the corner. We have a lot of history in these walls, and you can see it in the old photos and the way the wooden doors have worn down over time. It gets pretty humid here, especially in the afternoons, so those ceiling fans are always working overtime. The hallways are narrow and can get really crowded when the periods change over. We have a mix of kids from all over the area, and it’s always interesting to hear the different languages and chatter during the lunch hour. The staff room is a small, cluttered place where we drink our tea and try to get some grading done. There’s always a bit of chaos, like someone losing a shoe or a stray dog wandering near the gate, but we take it in stride. We aren't trying to be anything we aren't; we just provide a place for the local kids to come and learn their lessons. It’s a lot of hard work, and the building always needs some kind of repair, but we keep showing up and doing what we do for the neighborhood families.