Tahir Bhat

The walls of Mahatma Gandhi’s tiny room at Valmiki Mandir on Mandir Marg carry several pictures of towering leaders, including Frontier Gandhi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Among them is a sepia-coloured photograph in which Gandhi is seen talking to Pamela Mountbatten, the young daughter of India’s last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten. She regularly attended his all-faith prayer meetings and listened to his messages of non-violence and unity.

Maqsood Ahmed, a biology teacher at the historic Anglo-Arabic Senior Secondary School at Ajmeri Gate, is more than just an instructor. Media-shy and deeply committed to his students, Ahmed has quietly emerged as a source of support for underprivileged students in Delhi-6, one of the city’s oldest and most densely populated areas.