Kendriya Vidyalaya

Up here in Pauri, the air is a lot thinner and colder than it is down in the plains. Kendriya Vidyalaya is situated in Srinagar Garhwal, and it has a view of the hills that we sometimes take for granted. The walk to school in the morning can be a bit of a climb for some of the kids coming from the lower parts of the town. The building is a solid, older structure that has stood through many cold winters. It is not a modern glass building; it has thick walls and heavy doors to keep the wind out. Inside, the classrooms have that specific smell of old wood and wool sweaters. We do not have a lot of high-tech gadgets, just the usual chalkboards and wooden desks that have been around for many years. The playground is often covered in a bit of mist in the early hours of the morning. The 246001 area is a quiet place, so the loudest thing you will hear is the school bell echoing across the valley. The staff mostly comes from the surrounding villages, and everyone knows each other by name. It is a small-town atmosphere where things do not change very fast. We spend our days making sure the classes stay on track and the kids are wearing enough layers to keep warm during the winter. It is an honest, simple place to be, tucked away in the mountains of Uttarakhand, just doing the work that needs to be done for the local families.