On a beautiful winter morning, a few months back, a group of students from one of the best communications colleges in India came to visit our school. We were looking forward to their visit for many days, and finally here they were- a group of urban teenagers, most of whom had never set foot inside a government primary school. Looking at them set up their high-end cameras, in the midst of village kids in tattered uniforms, the stark contradictions in our society flooded my mind. 

It was early morning, and teachers, students and the visitors came by to greet me as I talked to these enthusiastic group of communication students, confident, well-dressed, and very articulate about their aspirations. It made me think about the many inequalities which the children studying in my school have to deal with. But just then, one of my favorite students (I won’t disclose her name here!), came up to me. Her warm smile pulled me out of my reverie and jolted me back to reality. Here I was, the principal of a school in a small district of Uttar Pradesh, with 390 students counting on me to make a difference to their lives through education. 

I felt powerful and weak at the same time, knowing that many of these children might never truly reach their potential. But I don’t let such thoughts dictate my actions and come in the way of my aim- to give every single child, especially girls, an opportunity to complete her education and become self-dependent. 

I felt powerful and weak at the same time, knowing that many of these children might never truly reach their potential. But I don’t let such thoughts dictate my actions and come in the way of my aim- to give every single child, especially girls, an opportunity to complete her education and become self-dependent. 

This is one of my major aspirations in life- that every girl, in the vicinity of this school, is given the chance to be educated and be self-reliant. I know many of these girls will be married before the age of 18, and bear children by the age of 20. But we need to educate these girls and make them realise that they have a right to education. Only then, will they fight for the education of their own daughters and teach their sons the same thing. 

My favorite student, let’s call her Laxmi, is not just the brightest but also the bravest in the school. Initially, her mother did not allow her to come to school on her own. This, along with other restrictions, made her extremely timid. There were many other like her, some who were beaten by their own brothers, some who had no positive male figure to look up to, some who had only known to obey orders and not have any thoughts of their own. Struggling with these situations, I realized these girls needed a platform where they can speak freely and confide in each other. 

At that time, the government had started ‘Meena Manch’- a gathering of women and young girls in a safe-space. Our school adopted this platform and here we discussed anything and everything under the sun. From family feuds to political issues, from menstrual hygiene to women empowerment, we encouraged everyone to speak up and share their thoughts. This powerful setup quickly started showing results. Many women started encouraging their daughters to complete school and many young girls started bringing their mothers to the meet-up. Slowly, old students who had graduated from our school and were employed in decent jobs, started coming and inspiring the young ones. 

From being timid and shy girls who used to skip school, Laxmi and others like her started realizing their potential. Their confident smiles and cheerful personalities keep me hopeful and optimistic about the future- theirs and ours. Even though my students might never dress up like teenagers from Delhi, they will still have changed a lot more in our society just by attending and completing school. A girl from our school has recently participated in a state-level athletics competition. Who would have thought of that 2 years ago? 
Smiling I thought, we are surely doing something right that these bright students from the Capital have come all the way to our dusty provincial town to capture stories of our school, which is so far removed from their comfortable lives.  

(The writer is the Principal at Primary School Chitehra, Dadri, Gautam Buddh Nagar. Views expressed are personal.)