It is late night on Saturday, 14 February, and I have just returned after a week in Bellary and Gulbarga. My mind is full of vivid images of unsung heroes and untold stories from some of north-east Karnataka’s most inspirational schools; the pride and joy on the faces of the teachers as 40 outstanding schools that met the criteria defined by the Learning Guarantee Programme are feted and honoured by Azim Premji and Karnataka’s Education Minister, Chandrasekhar, at the learning guarantee award function.