Government school

Two teachers, physical education teacher Radhakrishna Naik and assistant teacher Nooruddin G M decided to go the extra mile to stop the school from shutting shop.

Mohanraj remembers sitting next to his mother’s lifeless body with his 14 -year-old brother Velmurugan begging people to help them cremate their mother. They didn’t have the resources to give their mother a dignified end.

In a bid to stop the school’s closure, Laxmi and Nishmitha travel almost 60 km, walking an hour one way to reach the school.

Salaipudur and its surrounding areas still suffer from the social malaise of caste discrimination. But Periyapandiyan had donated a 15 cent parcel of land, worth Rs 8 lakh, to set up a primary school for children in the village, who are predominantly Dalit.

He has also been actively attending programmes like Children’s Day in the government school where his daughter studies.

While different students took up projects of their choice, Tushar was struck with the idea of doing something for children who come from underprivileged backgrounds.

It is the story of how a Chennai World bank employee and parent to a Grade 2 student, shelled money out of his own pocket to facelift the government-run primary school in Mugalivakkam.

While the body of the pen is built from plantain leaf, papaya leaf stem, coconut leaf and castor stem, a nib is fixed at one end of the stem. The other end is sealed using maida starch which holds the ink.

While he regrets not being able to go to school, he doesn't want well-deserving students to miss out on their education due to poverty.

With Rs. 5000 a month, a day-to-day struggle to have enough to eat, is inevitable.