Deprived of an education as children, the women – most of whom are widows and aged between 60 and 90 – are finally fulfilling a life-long dream to become literate at Aajibaichi Shala, or school for grannies in the local Marathi language, in Phangane village in Maharashtra state's Thane district, some 125km north-east of Mumbai. The school, which marks its first anniversary on International Women’s Day on Wednesday (March 8), is challenging traditional attitudes common to many Indian villages and helping its women shed the stigma of illiteracy.