PHOTOS: How a pandemic changed everything for these students

A streetdweller takes it upon herself to homeschool her grandchildren; six year olds learn to take care of themselves—school's out, but there's a lot yet to be learned

Jul 11, 2020, 08:14 IST5 min

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Mumbai: Meena and her grandchildrenMeena has been a street dweller for a couple of years now. When she was a child, her mother left the family, and they began living on the streets. Her father, however, ensured that she got a decent education. Meena now lives with her husband Rustom, son and three grandchildren on Chowpatty Beach. A hawker and the sole breadwinner of the family, she ensur

Image by Mexy Xavier

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Gurgaon: Lakshay and Prachi Narang, ages 26 and 24For the Narang siblings, the pandemic dramatically changed what their future would look like. Lakshay completed his Master’s degree in Public Policy from NLSIU, Bengaluru and Prachi enrolled for a Master’s in Education programme at Harvard University. Right now, Lakshay is looking for a job, while Prachi will be starting online classes at

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Jharkhand: Students of Bankathi Upgraded Middle SchoolWhen affluent urban schools and colleges have moved classes online, for some students even accessing a smartphone is a dream. To ensure that the lack of technology didn"t affect their education, Shyam Kishore Singh Gandhi, the headmaster of Bankathi Upgraded Middle School in Jharkhand"s Dumka district, came up with the idea of teaching

Image by Rajesh Kumar Pandey

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Ahmedabad: Ananya and Aditya Abraham, Age 6For Ananya and Aditya, six-year-old twins, everything changed as soon as the pandemic hit. Their doctor parents would leave them under the supervision of domestic help or another family member in normal times. But as the pandemic spread, their mother, Aarti Vazirani, a gynaecologist, and father Joy Abraham, a gastro-cancer surgeon, were left with

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Ajmer: Shivani (who goes by her first name only), age 20Twenty-year-old Shivani runs up to the terrace with her phone and notebook. She is in the middle of an online class conducted by NGO Quest Alliance, but is facing a lag in the video. It is blistering hot, but she finds a corner with some shade, and continues taking copious notes. “If you think it’s hot, then you will feel hot. I try

Image by Quest Alliance

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Delhi: A Guruvardhan, 16Every morning by 7.50 am, Guruvardhan would be ready for his school bus to pick him up from Shankar Vihar in Delhi. By 1.15 pm, he would be back home. After finishing his homework, exercise and dinner, it was bedtime. A fixed routine is necessary for the student of Tamanna Special School, who has cerebral palsy with an intellectual disability. “Any change in his bu

Image by Madhu Kapparath

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Chennai: Miraya and Keahn Dadabhoy, aged 10 and 8The Dadabhoy children took up teaching origami via Instagram during the lockdown. I’m teaching origami to my primary school principal,” says Miraya, proudly. “She wants to try making some tougher models. But sometimes when she doesn"t get a hang of it, I tell her to learn something else till she gets a hang of those folds.”The duo has also

Image by Shefalii Dadabhoy