No shoes, no satchels, a bunch of earnest students wend their way enthusiastically through Deulbadi village in Kultali block of the Sunderbans in Bengal to the Swamiji Shishu Pathshala, barely a kilometre from the raging Matla river.

Arjina Laskar, who is lugging a plastic bag containing books, wipes the slush from her feet and enters the tiny schoolroom: a bamboo mat wall with an asbestos roof. Inside, bedsheets are hung to bifurcate the “classrooms” into classes I and II, and a combined one for III and IV.

Arjina, like Shamima Laskar and Piya Mondal, has trudged almost a whole kilometre from her home at the crack of dawn, because classes are held from 6.30am to 8.30am six days a week, Sundays included. The weekly holiday is on Wednesdays.

To reach Kultali from Calcutta, the Namkhana local train from Sealdah is the swiftest option. One needs to disembark at South Barasat or Joynagar and board a toto to the Jamtala crossing. From there, it is another toto ride to Manikpir More, after which the trudge to Deulbadi village begins, along ponds, vegetable patches and acres of paddy fields. The Sabuj Sangha Club is the landmark for initial venturers.

Barely three years ago, the children of Deulbadi were roaming aimlessly during the Covid-19-induced lockdown since schools were shut. Pulak Mondal, 25, was back home after working in Calcutta, Bangalore and Tirupati as a mason because the jobs had folded up. He bought a toto to eke out a living. But seeing the children wasting their time, the young man decided to sell the vehicle and turn village schoolmaster and groom primary level students.

Pulak completed his Higher Secondary in 2017 and was planning to join B.R. Ambedkar College in adjoining Jamtala when he got the opportunity to work as a mason’s helper. He continued to hone his skills as a mason till the lockdown, when he made his way home.

When Cyclone Amphan left a trail of devastation in May 2020, Pulak plunged into relief operations. This helped him network with many Samaritans who rushed to offer succour in the Sunderbans. Some of them are continuing to help with his school.

However, there were pitfalls aplenty and his dream of a school was destined to hit severe obstacles. The initial tarpaulin shed was blown away by Amphan’s fury. The next makeshift effort faced the wrath of Cyclone Yaas exactly a year later. “Finally, with the help of friends, I managed to build this school,” Pulak recounts.

His story is a tapestry of events, resolutions and possibly divine intervention in the form of altruists who have stood by him steadfastly. “I spent a sleepless night trying to figure out what I should name the school. Finally, I decided on Swamiji Shishu Pathshala, since Swami Vivekananda is an inspiration for everyone,” Pulak recounts.

While he was running a community kitchen, Pulak met Gopa Roychowdhury, a member of Sanskritiki Kolkata, an organisation working in the Sunderbans. According to Sanjay Chowdhury of Sanskritiki Kolkata, their unit was providing relief supplies at Hingalganj when they heard about the plight of Kultali block. “All the schools were closed during the lockdown. The children were the worst affected. They could not afford mobile phones, so the option of online classes did not arise. We tried to help Pulak ensure their schooling by offering to pay the salaries of teachers and sponsoring breakfast for the children,” Chowdhury says.

Pulak’s young cousins, Jayasree and Jhuma Mondal, then studying at B.R. Ambedkar College, were the first teachers. Now Jhuma, along with siblings Mitali and Sourav Haldar, holds fort for the 46 students. “Whenever any teacher is absent or on leave, I pitch in,” adds Pulak.

His main concern now is to build a toilet. “The children have to return home when they need to go to the toilet since we do not have one. Their houses are far off, so by the time they return, the classes are over,” he rues. He also has plans to invest in a solar panel and apply for an electricity meter, since most power connections are unauthorised.

Chowdhury says they are according priority to these appeals. “We are trying to contact the Rotary Club and hope to garner some funds by Durga Puja,” he adds. It helps that Pulak is a mason and can do the initial construction.

On August 20, three volunteers from Calcutta, Pranab Paul, Sanjib Kumar Mitra and Rima Paul, visited the school on behalf of Proximity Designer Welfare Society. Pranab had befriended Pulak on Facebook last year and posted about Deulbadi. In response, the 1994 batch of Holy Child School in Calcutta offered blackboards, dusters and chalk and asked Pranab to ferry these to Deulbadi. Other friends sponsored cakes and cookies for the children.

Pulak stresses that his school is not “free” and urges the students who can afford to pay fees to give Rs 365 a year. “It is a one-rupee-a-day school,” he reasons. In lieu, the children are imparted basic education, given breakfast and hot meals on occasion as well as new clothes three times a year, including on his mother’s death anniversary.

Pulak himself had a fall in 2017 and sustained a brain injury. A CT scan at that time hinted at “some problem”. The pain is now recurring; he is due for an MRI in Calcutta soon.

Despite these odds, he carries on the crusade of teaching children not enrolled in government schools to the best of his ability. He is waiting for that day when little Arjina and Piya will have shoes and satchels and the light of knowledge will radiate on their faces.