From: [email protected] To: 3 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)Puja Pednekar [email protected] MUMBAI: Struggling to find a quiet place to study, around 15 students have found a home away from home. Don Bosco High School, Matunga, has started a 24X7 study centre for the neighbourhood students for the SSC exams.The facility has become an instant hit among students who do not have space to study at home, or parents who wish to keep their children away from distractions.Students are allowed to use the classrooms to study and arrangements have been made for them to stay there through the night. “Around 15-20 days before the board exams, students trooped in with their bags. They live and study in the classrooms,” said Father Bosco D’Mello, principal of the school.Students said they found it easy to focus on studies here. “Our house has only one room apart from the kitchen, and I have younger siblings romping around and making noise all day,” said Suraj Agrahari, a resident of Sion Koliwada and a student of SD High School. “So I have am living at Don Bosco school till my exams get over.”Teachers and night school students pitch in to coach the students. “I cannot afford coaching classes. But the guidance of the teachers here makes it unnecessary,” said Hrithik Korim, another student. ==========3 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)Take a look at the other side of nightlifeSTREET SMART Living in small homes and crowded neighbourhoods, these students find their study rooms at street corners, along railway tracks. Photos by KUNAL PATILFrom page 3 MUMBAI: While parents across the city cut down on mall visits and shun the television so their children taking the HSC and SSC exams are not distracted, some candidates have fewer demands – they look for well-lit areas that are not too noisy, and not too far from a toilet.Building terrace, Worli village Terraces of buildings are venues for latenight rendezvous, to share a hot cup, and a study trick or two. SK Patil study centre, Charni Road The lucky ones get the benefit of chairs and clean toilets at these study centres. Reay Road station. These students find the well-lit tracks a good place to study, with the frequency of trains dropping after midnight. Oval Study centre, Churchgate Maidan, as this, Centres such open which stay t the throughou 24X7 and far year, are few between. Abhyas Galli, Worli Nestled between Podar Hospital and Kamgar Hospital, the silent lane is a favourite with students, as they can study without fear. Jogeshwari caves Many students escape their noisy neighbourhood s to the quiet of these caves, where it is ‘easier to concentrate’.The civic body has provided study centres for them, but they are too few to cater to all. So, they are sitting down below street lights and near railway tracks to prepare. Others cram into the Jawaharlal Nehru Garden at Sion. Students there challenged HT’s photographer to have a look at the toilet they use, and dirty does not begin to describe it. Mosquitoes add to the problems.While the state’s ruling alliance partners quibble over whether ‘nightlife’ is against the city’s culture, no one has yet come forward to help these children out in the night. ==========3 Mar 2015Hindustan Times (Mumbai)Puja Pednekar [email protected] transplant could not get this teen downMUMBAI: Ashwini Nathani, 15, underwent a kidney-transplant a few months ago, but she has decided to take her SSC exam. What’s more, she will not take the help of writers or extra time while answering her papers.Nathani’s health troubles began three years ago and eventually, both her kidneys stopped working. She was on dialysis for a year, till her father donated his kidney. Through it all, she studied for her board exams without joining any coaching class.The gritty teenager is now all ready to appear for the SSC exams. “Going for dialysis everyday was a challenge, but my parents were there with me all the time,” said Nathani, student of St Columba Girls High School, Grant Road. “I used to study for two-three hours at the hospital. My school supported me a lot.”History is her favourite paper, but she is afraid of mathematics. “After exerting myself too much to study, I do feel weak, but I am confident of writing the exams. I have not yet decided on my career path, but I know I want to find a way to make people happy.”
