Manish Vyas (with child on his shoulders) at the Sikkim Himalayan Academy

Manish Vyas, a Mumbai-based educator, is all too familiar with the joy of teaching, having worked as a tutor at non-profit organsations from the age of 16. However, earlier this month, when the 25-year-old set out for Sikkim to visit the Sikkim Himalayan Academy (SHA), a residential school perched on a steep forested slope in Buriakhop, Soreng, his goal was to more than educate. For the chemical engineer-turned-teacher, it was about helping a little known school in a remote Himalayan region raise funds to stay afloat.