Raichur

Government Higher Primary Model School, Madgirir, Mandvi Taluk, caters to a village of about 6800

And its kids can't wait to get with their friends

And a latecomer sneaks his way in -- latecoming is ignored to avoid more dropout rates

And another sneaks out - this too a not uncommon feature for children often working in fields after school

Once in, some sit patiently, obediently in corridors, some edgily wait for excitement or return into classrooms

And when guests of any sort show up, the mob is instantaneous, no matter what you try to avoid it

Head Teacher Balappa is originally Maharashtrian, came here looking for work

One class, in painting, currently has its students making do with the floor outside

A good shantiniketan setting for the children, often more than one class combined

Thanks to a surge attack on the UPS system, the PCs are mostly left behind plastic covers

Though the explanations of the theory segments of computer classes are still up and running

Here, a UPS donated by one of the teachers is used to run one machine at a time, and evening 'games' classes

This, the truant UPS - UPS system failures are a big problem in rural areas where support is hard to come by

Everywhere we went, we were served the best local food, added with the mid-day meal the kids ate

A flagpole for the Indian tricolour, a standard feature of most schools

Girls discuss -- some dropout to take care of siblings, so kid siblings are allowed to school as spectators

Two young teachers posted here on government jobs, one pined for Mumbai, a great city he visited once

The English teacher, posted from another Taluk, lived near the school before moving out for water problems

This teacher, a veteran of many years, is also an import - no teachers here are locals, most villagers illiterate

There aren't bathrooms in the village yet, and no running water or drainage -- though the rains are very light

Two athletes do their chase scene during the recess

While another displays his acrobatic skills to his impressed classmates

From rich cities to the poorest villages the school bell moves from electric, to brass, to wrought iron, to a metal piece

As a rule, in every government school, the day ends with the national anthem

And in perfect order, everyone leaves in a straight line after the anthem

This parent was concerned about quality of education due to teachers transferring out of his village

The average home here - a large thatch roof keeps the heat as far away as possible in the sweltering plains

There was one two story house - the most common indicator for homes is whether cattle stay indoors

A lot similar here with southern Maharashtra - the dressing for instance, further west in Dharwad similarities increase

And the buffaloes cool escape from the heat into the river that bathes the whole village

Shekhar, the driver, was our infiltrator, working behind the scenes dig out issues faced in the community

A line of villagers pose with a bicycle

It is remarkably easy to get the entire village lined up for a photograph, difficult only to exclude anyone

While the goung stars pose in their fresh banians, and absolute essential in the heat here

And a sunflower field shines in the alternating dryness

The shies away when the camera appears

A 10-year old escaped school to avoid daily beatings by two teachers, now works as restaurant server

Such highway dhabas are regular homes for child labourers

Our research team with the local teachers and students