Bai Dhunmai Cawasji High School & Junior College

This school has been sitting along the Mumbai Pune Highway in Khandala for a long time now. Because of where we are, the air feels a bit different than it does down in the city, especially when the fog rolls in during the monsoon. The building itself shows its age in a way that makes it feel sturdy. We have the high school sections and the junior college all in the same general area. Students come from all over the local hills and nearby towns to get here. The classrooms have these heavy wooden doors and windows that look out toward the greenery. It can get a bit noisy with the trucks zooming past on the highway, but everyone is used to it by now. The teachers have been here for years and they know the families well. During the breaks, the canteen gets pretty packed with students grabbing a quick snack. We have a playground that’s seen a lot of use over the decades. It’s not a fancy private institution with glass walls; it’s a real school with a lot of history in these halls. The office is full of old registers and files stacked up to the ceiling. Sometimes the power goes out, and we just keep teaching by the light from the windows. It’s a simple setup where the focus is just on the books and the exams. People in Khandala know us as a landmark on the highway.