Kaintal School

If you head down Sanaur Road towards Adwala Pir, you’ll find Kaintal School. It’s an older building, which gives it a bit of character compared to the newer places popping up. The walls are thick, so it stays reasonably cool even when the sun is beating down on the playground. We spend a lot of time just keeping up with the maintenance, like painting the window frames or fixing the hinges on the heavy doors. The yard out front is where the kids wait for their parents after the final bell. It can get pretty crowded with the rickshaws and cars all trying to squeeze into the space at once. Inside, the floors are worn smooth from years of people walking back and forth. We have a small library that smells like old paper, and it’s probably the quietest spot in the whole building. The teachers’ lounge is small and usually smells like tea and biscuits. We don't have any big corporate offices here; it's just the principal’s desk tucked away near the front. Most of the people working here have lived in this neighborhood their whole lives, so we know most of the families who come through the gate. It’s a simple setup, really. We just make sure the registers are marked and the lessons get taught. Sometimes the power goes out and we have to open all the shutters, but we make it work and keep the day going as planned.