About 65 km from the Khajuraho temples that showcase some of the most evocative sculptures in India, the walls of the Government High School in village Mamon vibrate with a rare sensitivity and warmth. To reach the school, take the lurching dirt track off the Chhatarpur-Sagar highway. At the arched gate, there is no mistaking the institution that is gathering repute in the area as the government school that “Sir” built.

With a literacy rate of 53.44 per cent, according to the 2001 census, Chhatarpur district is a laggard in a state that has all but caught up with the national average — the literacy rate in Madhya Pradesh is 64.11 per cent; the national average is 65.4. In Chhatarpur, as in other districts of MP and Uttar Pradesh that are part of the Bundelkhand region, the village school is nobody’s child — a decrepit institution, marked by decaying buildings, lack of teaching aids and teacher absenteeism.

The Government High School of village Mamon tells the story of how in Bundelkhand, it was left to one man to re-imagine the school.

On the outer sides of the school’s boundary walls are painted, in more pictures than words, lessons for the benefit of passers-by. One tableau gives tips on economising on time and fuel while cooking — “cover the vessel”, it says, and “measure out the appropriate amount of water”, alongside pictorial illustrations of the instructions. Another chart depicts the water cycle. Yet another portrays “essential activities of the gram panchayat”.

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