Shiva Carrer Academy

We are right here in Maidagin, just beside Agrasen College. It's a busy spot in Varanasi. Every morning I come in and open the shutters. The dust from the road gets on the desks so I have to wipe them down before the first batch shows up. Shiva Carrer Academy has been in this building for a while now. Most people know the landmark since the college is right there. It gets quite loud outside with the rickshaws and people shouting, but we get used to it. The name on the board has that spelling, Carrer, and some people ask about it but we just leave it be. It's just how things are here. We have a few rooms for classes. The fans make a bit of noise in the summer. Students bring their own water bottles usually, though we have a dispenser in the corner. Sometimes the tea man comes by and we take a break. It's not a fancy place with glass walls or anything like that. Just wooden benches and whiteboards. We spend most of the day looking at textbooks and going over old papers. When it rains, the street outside gets a bit messy, so everyone leaves their shoes near the door. It feels like a small community once the classes start. We don't have a big office staff, just a couple of us managing the schedule and talking to parents who drop by. It’s a lot of work but we’ve been doing it for years now.