M. S. Pokar English High School

Saphale is a bit of a different world compared to the city, and we like it that way. Our school sits in the Saryugranville Homes area of Tandulwadi, which means we get a lot of fresh air and a bit more space than you’d find in Mumbai or Palghar proper. We’ve been here for a while now, watching the trees grow along with the kids. In the mornings, you can hear the birds before the school bus arrives. Most of the teachers take the train to get here and then a rickshaw from the station, so there’s always a bit of a rush if the timings are off. The building is solid, painted in colors that seemed like a good idea a few years back. We spend our days mostly dealing with the usual stuff—correcting notebooks, making sure the drinking water filter is working, and checking if everyone has their tie on straight. It’s not a quiet place once the classes start, but that’s the point. We have a playground that gets pretty dusty in the summer, but the kids don't seem to mind it when they're playing football. There’s a lot of back-and-forth with the parents from the village and the new housing complexes. We just try to keep things steady and make sure the kids are actually reading their books instead of just looking at the pictures.