Takshasila High School

Takshasila High School is out in Veldanda, which is a bit of a drive within Mahabubnagar. The school sits in a spot where you can see the open land around it. It is a very simple building with several classrooms and a small office area. We have been working here for a long time, and the building shows its age in some places. The 509360 area is mostly people who know each other, so we see the same parents every year. Our students walk or bike in from the nearby villages. We don't have a lot of the fancy equipment you see in city schools, but we have enough benches for everyone to sit. The chalk dust gets on everything, especially the teachers' clothes. During the summer, it gets very dry and the ground is quite dusty. We try to keep the trees in the yard alive with whatever water we have. The bell is just a piece of metal that someone hits with a hammer. It’s loud enough for everyone to hear. Most of the staff live nearby, so we are all part of the same community. The power goes out sometimes in the afternoon, so we just open all the windows wide. We have a small gate that makes a loud creaking sound every time someone enters. It's not a place with a lot of money, but we make the most of what is available in Veldanda. It's just a school for the children who live out this way. We just go through the lessons in the textbooks and hope the kids do well.