Krshnagiri School

Living and working in Bhiwandi means you get used to the constant movement of the power looms and the heavy traffic. Our school, Krshnagiri, is right in the middle of all that action in Thane. The building has been here for a while, and it shows a little bit in the way the stairs are worn down and the gates creak when you open them in the morning. I usually get here before the first bus arrives to make sure the hallways are swept and the lights are on. It’s a simple place with plain walls and standard wooden benches that have seen better days. We don’t go in for anything flashy. Mostly, we just worry about whether the fans are spinning fast enough during the humid months and if the notebooks are ready for the kids. The noise from the street is always there, a mix of horns and people talking, but once the lesson starts, you sort of tune it out. We have a small yard where the students gather, and it gets pretty crowded during the lunch break. The tea shop around the corner is where most of us go to grab a quick cutting chai before the afternoon sessions. It’s a basic setup, really, but it serves the families around here who are just looking for a place for their children to spend the day. We do the best with what we have and keep things moving.