The students roam around in rainbow coloured uniforms of daura suruwal, waist coat and gunyou cholo, their classrooms are named after artists, literary figures and the zones of Nepal.

Seen striding about the school, Samata Sikshya Niketan in Jorpati, is Uttam Sanjil. He started this school six years ago with the intention of encouraging children from low-income families to study. Now with regular support from 1,200 sponsors, he has opened other schools in Bhaktapur, Kamalbinayak and Gwarko attended by more than 7,000 kids. "If they can't go to school they will end up in the streets. My responsibility is to guide them to the right path," says Sanjil.

At first people did not believe in Sanjil's campaign. They said he was idealistic. Some started calling him 'crazy'. But that changed when they saw the positive results of Sanjil's hard work. Now the same people who called him a dreamer say, "You have to be as passionate and as crazy as Sanjil to be able to follow what you believe in."

When he started his education campaign with the help of the Jorpati-Nayabasti club, Sanjil promised to not give up until he had succeeded. Within a year of the school's inception, over 800 kids whose parents worked in the carpet industry came to him and he soon decided to abandon his flourishing film career in Bombay and embraced the job of principal at Samata Niketan.

Children at Samata pay Rs 100 each month and the school provides free uniform and books. In addition, Sanjil's school supports 16 kids who lost their parents when a soldier opened fire on villagers in Nagarkot last year.

Sanjil takes all the awards and felicitation he has received as encouragement to do better. "I dream that the children who study in my school will go back to their villages and start similar programs," says Sanjil. Judging by his perseverance, hard work and his relationship with his students, that dream does not seem entirely impossible.

Peshal Pokhrel