For an hour and 45 minutes before her 8 am lecture recently, Jeeteshwari Mehta hunted the length and breadth of Ghatkopar for a hibiscus. She needed it to introduce a Zoom classroom full of 7th standard students to the anatomy of a flower. “I could have expressed that using colourful chalks and the blackboard if the lesson was offline, but online you have to work harder to engage kids.” Mehta was also keen to make a mark because this was part of her internship as a second year B.Ed student in KJ Somaiya College of Education. The caretaker of a neighbourhood temple came to the rescue in the end, agreeing to pluck a blossom “only because it was for a good cause like education.”

The last year and a half has been particularly challenging for debuting teachers as well as teachers-in-training, who have so far had had little to no chance to hold a class in person. While still relatively inexperienced, they have tried to win the attention and trust of dozens of young and restless students — all remotely. This involved burning the midnight oil to make lesson plans that would translate from afar. It also meant dealing with the students’ internet problems, malfunctioning gadgets, drained batteries as well as their domestic and financial struggles.