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paused, choosing my words carefully. "Papa tells me that sometimes you don't go to school." Santosh looked down, not meeting my eyes. He seemed embarrassed that I knew this; it had not occurred to him that Papa might tell me.

"Papa said that you and some other boys leave school and miss classes," I continued. "You know that school is very important, don't you?" His nod was an almost imperceptible movement. "You need to go to school every day, Santosh. You need to study hard and do well in school to be a dancer when you grow up. You need to know your English well so you can be anything you want to be."

He nodded again, but was clearly sulking at the reprimand. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel bad or think I was mad at him, so I put my arm around his shoulders and hugged him to me. "You're a very smart boy, Santosh. Do you know that? You are very smart. You can do anything you want to. I'm very proud of you, and it will make me happy if you go to school every day and work hard."

Santosh continued to look at the ground. I patted his back. "You will go to school every day, and not leave classes? You will study hard?" He nodded. "Okay. Do you want to get my camera and take some pictures?" I stood up.

He loved snapping photos with my camera, and I sometimes entrusted it to him as my "official photographer." He smiled and perked up, and I took his hand. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

The difference that an education, literacy and competency in English makes in the future of a child cannot be overestimated especially a marginalized or disadvantaged child; a child like Santosh. One of the main factors that makes children vulnerable to street life, trafficking, early marriage, child labor or adult unemployment is lack of education. And education of its children remains one of India's greatest challenges as a country. Approximately a hundred and thirty-seven million Indian children nearly half the entire population of the United States are illiterate. In the six to fourteen year age group, thirty million cannot read at all, forty million recognize only a few letters, and forty million can read some words. Over fifty-five million of these children will not complete four years of school, eventually adding to the illiterate population of India the largest of any country in the world.

The World Bank Group has a terrific blog devoted to Ending Poverty in South Asia. The blog is maintained by Shanta Devarajan, Chief Economist of the South Asia Region at the World Bank. Its

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