Sheetal from Govindpuri, Delhi
Age: 9

Question: Did you ever tell your mother you want to go to school?
Sheetal: I did, but she said it’s more important that I work right now. We need the money.
Question: What about your father? What’s his opinion on you going to school?
Sheetal: He outright refuses to send me to school. I don’t know why.
Question: What will you do once the Save the Children gets you a seat in a school?
Sheetal: Mummy se zabardasti karungi main (I will pressurise my mother and tell her I want to study).
Question: How do you think studying will benefit you?
Sheetal: I don’t really know. But, my friends tell me that if I study, I will be able to figure out what the shopkeeper writes in the bill.

– As told to Tania Goklany. She met Sheetal at a Save the Children Centre in Govindpuri, Delhi.