At an anganwadi near Baiyappanahalli in Bengaluru, around 20 children, most of whom are between three and six years old, are busy playing, making merry, and having fun.

It’s hard to get their attention.

To Siddharth, I ask, “Why do you come to anganwadi?”

“To eat!” he says, (screams almost), without an iota of doubt.

“What do you like to eat?”

“Ice cream!”

He doesn’t seem to care much about the lunch at his anganwadi. But his friend, Nithu (who likes to be referred to as Dhanamma because ‘that’s what her dad calls her’) interjects.

“You will fall sick if you eat ice cream. I like anna sambar (rice and sambar),” she says.

“So, do you come to anganwadi for anna sambar ?” I ask her.

“I come here to study,” she surprises me, and goes on to recite the English alphabet.

At another

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