Wanaparthy, Andhra Pradesh. I caught this boy on a visit to an isolated village held back hundreds of years. The visit was part of ILP ( India Literacy Project) aimed at integrating tribals with mainstream society and get the communities to understand the need for getting basic literacy.

They waited lonely eager to read

Dreams in their eyes yet still a seed

Besides the cows and pigs and wild weed

They languish in hope that someone pays heed

A daily meal at the stroke of noon

A book and one teacher is a boon

A new beginning cannot come too soon

A path, a road to reach for the moon

They want to learn

In their eyes the yearn

Let us take our turn 

So like the Sun they can shine and burn

-Srikanth Desikan