Tilak Kanya Kannada Primary School

Our school is right in the Bijapur Bazaar area, specifically at Godbole. It is a Kannada primary school for girls, and things have been running here for quite a while. Being in the bazaar means it is never really quiet. There are shops all around and people moving through the streets from morning until evening. The building itself is an older one, the kind you see a lot of in this part of Karnataka. We have small children coming in for their first years of schooling. The classrooms are simple with wooden desks and blackboards. Most of the teachers speak Kannada with the kids all day. During the lunch break, the girls sit together and eat what they brought from home. It can get a bit cramped when everyone is inside, especially when it’s raining hard outside. We don’t have fancy computers or a big gym. It’s mostly about teaching the basics like reading and writing. The parents here are mostly local workers or shopkeepers who want their daughters to get an education. We know most of the neighbors, and they know us. Sometimes the power goes out, and we just open the windows for some air. It’s a very local, neighborhood school. We don’t try to be anything else. We just open the gates every morning and do our best with the kids who show up. The daily grind here is honest and we just keep it simple for everyone.