The long-term success of the project will depend on how well the XO can be modified for the Indian classroom. Its commitment to open source software makes it an ideal instrument to modify. But Surve — he couldn’t clear his state-level computer skills exam, he admits — is currently the only person improvising with the XO. “A Marathi keyboard and fonts could do wonders,” he says, “since all subjects are taught in Marathi.”

Still, nothing is impossible for the children of Vasishala, Khairat, any longer. “At Chowpatty, other children began crying when they saw me taking pictures with my laptop,” says Mangal. She’s referring to a Mumbai visit organised by Reliance ADAG for the entire class and a few parents. “Even they don’t have these things.”

Mohan Jore, in his fifties and grandfather of Mangal and Haresh (7), adds: “This could help them do something — something big perhaps.”

OLPC Vision

• For two years now, the One Laptop Per Child initiative has been attempting to take computing into rural schools in the developing world

• Partnering their former colleague Nicholas Negroponte, several veterans of MIT’s Media Lab helped develop the XO laptop. Large US corporations pledged their support too, including Intel and AMD, both chip-making majors

• Intel, making its own low-cost laptop, resigned recently. The XO uses AMD’s cheaper chip

• Several countries pledged support too, vowing to buy one million pieces or more. But with cheaper options on the anvil, some countries are reconsidering

... contd.