A few trees and scrub dot the landscape. Vehicles whiz by on the lone road, in a hurry to get elsewhere. The Gadge Maharaj Mission school for tribal children in Vajreshwari, a village in Thane district, near Mumbai, sits in unexceptional terrain.

But this summer, the landscape brightened up as a bunch of school kids in fluorescent shorts and vests pounded basketballs, their excited calls piercing the air. The action continued well past sundown: the floodlights flickered on and the children carried on with their drills and matches.

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