Seven years before the Right to Education Bill was introduced in the Parliament, Uttam Teron, a young man from Pamohi, 20 km from Guwahati, dreamt of 100 per cent literacy for the children of his village. Education was the lowest priority in this Karbi-dominated hamlet and most children, especially girls, helped their parents in the fields. This changed when Teron began the Parijat Academy in a cowshed in 2003 with just four students. Today, the school, with a small hostel, provides free education to 502 students of which 256 are girls.