Gadag

The entrance to the Government HP school at Shigli

As the girls line up for the mid-day meal, two boys discuss larger issues in life

Children finish recess, and some kids who've brought younger siblings get some leftovers for more mouths

And more donated chairs lined against the head teacher's desk

A unique Imperial remnant - erstwhile icons of Scouts and Guides up on the wall alongside Hindu Gods

Gurunathappa Hukkeri is the Head Teacher, teaching Math, often the most problematic subject in village schools

These three teachers have been crusaders in the area, going door to door checking on dropouts

This English teacher saw a need for more alphabet explaining software for younger children

With the Class 2 children gone to lunch, the teacher's lone chair watches over the school bags

Now, the class is full with newbies to arithmetic

And the tables are instantly taken to the class teacher

An exit letter, explaining why a specific student has dropped out of the school

An exit register lists all dropouts with reasons for leaving, and parents' signature/thumbprints

The computers, in addition to teaching computers are also useful in documentation, necessary under SSA

A controversial freehand map of India, and slippers of everyone who entered the staff room

The computer center here has about 4 periods of student classes every day, reasonably reliable power

The govt. given TV graces the staff room, and now brings a Bollywood lunch film, for the Hindi-speaking guests

The computer center has its rules - certainly keep the paan spittle away from here

An English question-paper prepared for the junior classes using the computer center facilities

The grading system based on the SSA trimester takes a lot of the teaching time, especially in remedial classes

The YIF coordinator, hired as a computer center admin - now struggling for a salary through the community

Kho Kho, an easy and popular game in a number of Indian schools

Here the teacher trains the students for the game, first running exercises, then strategy

And the ubiquitous stick is handy in keeping discipline of all kinds, especially for excitable students

The organized nature of Kho Kho is bettered by the easy improvisational pole game seen here

Rolling tyres - the most reliable and universal of Indian boy sports

Here is how it is done - a rare sports teacher who manages to venture into a bonafide Olympic sport

As he bends down to throw, the crowd holds its breath: a young sweeper swishes dirt towards the finishing line

Okay, you got it? Now try throwing it without breaking a head or two nicely placed in your path

The young lady gets into position to fire, with no prior history of cracked skulls to decelerate her speed

Clap everyone! Fortune favours the brave.

The bell's off, and the kids of class 2 prepare to go home

Some kids get their rides home from field work (and sometimes school) on bullock carts

A young preschool maharaja and his magic wand

A family of the local parent, among the more affluent, has 10 human members, and three animals

Inside a home, livestock are family. In the poorer homes, the cows stay outside

School Council member talks about funding limitations and problems with supporting after school programs

This lady, a widow, had been making a living doing tailoring work - life for widows is still socially difficult here

A small mosque minus minarets makes do in Shigli

While a beautiful massive structure from the Deccan Empire days stands just 10 miles away

A junior college just outside of Shigli has also raised enrollment in high schools

Street scene - the school is to the right

Sowing season - two sets of cattle concurrently till and sow the field

This standing plough digs up the soil - notice the difference with the other type, also pictured in this series

Though agriculture is a major profession here, large pockets of weavers exist in the larger villages

This type is used in the seeding process - a three person process here

A tractor, usually the only motor vehicle to make its way through these roads, even as transport

More tire sport here, with the village in the background

No seat, no problem. In front of the TRAX, rural India's no. 1 car, three people sit on the passenger-side hood

Turning in towards Shigli, the local town and gateway to Gadag town for the villagers

The gates at railway crossings are locked with double metal chains to avoid people taking their chances

The team of Shekhar, Sudhakar, and Santhosh wait out a speeding goods train