Kamala Education Centre

If you know Varanasi, you know how tight the lanes can be near the temples. Kamala Education Centre is tucked away in Bhaironath Gali, right near the Bhaironath Mandir. It’s a lively spot to be in. Every morning, you hear the temple bells and the sound of people walking to the ghats. We’ve been running this place from K.42/36 for a good while. It isn't a massive campus with fancy labs or anything like that. It’s mostly just rooms filled with benches and whiteboards where we sit down with the students. The walls could probably use a fresh coat of paint, but they are covered with notes and schedules anyway. We get a lot of local kids who walk over from the surrounding neighborhoods. Sometimes the narrow streets make it hard for people to find us the first time, but being near the temple helps as a landmark. We don’t have a big staff. It’s just a few of us who handle the teaching and the office work. The fans hum pretty loud in the summer, and we usually have the windows open to catch whatever breeze comes through the alley. It’s a practical place. We focus on the books and the lessons. There’s no big lobby or coffee machine. Just a water cooler and some chairs. It’s how things are done here in the old part of the city. We just keep going day after day, sticking to what we know without making any big changes while the temple bells ring in the background.