Ajay Chouhan

My name is Ajay Chouhan and I’ve been running this teaching spot in Naya Tola for a long time. People around here in Patna just know the place by my name. It started out small, just a few kids in a single room. Over time, it grew a little, but I’ve tried to keep it feeling personal. When you walk into the space in 800004, you won’t see any glossy brochures or sales people. It is just me and a couple of others helping out. We deal with the daily struggles of students who are often under a lot of pressure. I think they like coming here because it doesn't feel like a big institution. It feels more like a place where they can just sit and talk about their subjects. Naya Tola is always buzzing with energy, and our room is no different. We have old wooden benches that have seen many years of use. Sometimes the power goes out, and we just use the windows for light until it comes back. It’s very basic. I don’t believe in making things more complicated than they need to be. We just open the books and get to work. Every student is different, and I try to remember that. It’s a lot of work, but seeing them understand a difficult topic makes it worth the long hours we put in. Most days I am here until late evening, just making sure everything is ready for the next day.