‘A large playground, amid trees, echoes of nursery rhymes reverberating in the air.  A large brick- red coloured school building with children engrossed in classes.’ All this perhaps paints a happy picture of growing significance of education in rural area.

The Government Middle School, Sarna Chowd, which boasts strength of over 270, has on any given day about 200 children attending the school. This is commendable considering it is located in a remote suburb of Jaipur with most children coming from families struggling to meet basic necessities to sustain.

The families traditionally known to be snake catchers and street dancers today have resorted to begging in the nearby villages. The teachers say that these families are usually large because they believe that an extra child implies an extra hand to earn. A few years ago, children would never be sent to school; instead they would be taught to beg. When asked, children agree in unison that it is the food that primarily attracts the parents to send their children to school today. Thus the enrolment in the school has grown steadily after the implementation of the mid-day meal and more visibly after Akshaya Patra has reached out to this remote school. 

The teachers explain that the smaller children studying in the primary grades, usually run back home after lunch hour but the older ones stay back to learn. Regular attendance at school has led many older children to understand the importance of education and thus they proactively come to school. This they say has been a great achievement in the village where most of these children are first generation literates.

Roshan Jhat, studying in grade seven, dreams to become a doctor. His father is a farmer and hence is able to provide food at least just enough to survive the hunger pangs. Roshan says, “I have milk in morning and then come to school. The afternoon meal that is provided in the school is the first-full meal I have in the day. I love dal and rice more than rotis.” 

But Mamtha who studies in the fourth grade has a different story to tell. She comes from a family of street dancers and says that she often dances in village fairs and sometimes on the streets of the city to earn for her family. 'The ringing of a bell is followed by happy chitter-chatter and running around. In the next five minutes, children enthusiastically sit in a line waiting for their share of the mid-day meal.' Mamtha, sitting beside her younger brother says, “I eat as much as I can, sometimes I take food home for my younger siblings as well. There are times when they don’t get anything to eat when they go for begging but still I get good food because I come to school.” Her father has 13 children and Mamtha is one of them. The house that she lives in is bare, just a hand-made clay enclosure and a plastic sheet to protect them from the burning sun. Some of her brothers and sisters go begging every single day but she attends school. Mamtha says, “I want to study so I come every day, but sometimes because of lack of money, even I am forced to join my sisters and brothers.”

The food that these children get may seem basic for many. But for children like Mamtha, it is a luxury. Many more Mamthas who are still on the streets are hoping for the little bus to arrive. It may not be a Cinderella story but at least it helps these children secure their basic right to food and there by education.