Sharmila Jaiswal Degree College

Down in Baraut, near Allahabad, we set up Sharmila Jaiswal Degree College to give the local youth a place to study closer to home. It can be quite a trek to get into the main city, so having this here helps a lot of families. The college itself is a simple structure. We’ve got the standard classrooms and a small area where students hang out between lectures. The weather out here gets really hot in the summer, so we spend a lot of time making sure the coolers are working. We don't have a massive campus with stadiums, but we have enough room for everyone to learn what they need. Most of our staff live nearby, so there’s a real sense of being part of the Baraut community. You’ll often see students sitting under the trees talking about their exams or what they want to do later. We handle all the typical degree courses. It’s not a fancy life, but it’s a good one. We’ve had to deal with the usual problems like power cuts or dusty roads, but that’s just part of living in this part of India. We try to keep things grounded and accessible. People here appreciate having a college they can reach easily. We just focus on the day-to-day tasks and making sure our students are getting through their books.