Ticket to Rise

Construction on the house that Subashini Menon lives and studies in has remain unfinished since here father died three years ago. Although here mother doubts she can afford the schooling costs, Subashini says,

At 6 p.m. on a September day, with Chennai’s humid sun low on the horizon, Subashini Menon paces the roof of her house, reading in a quiet staccato from a heavy computer science textbook. Pencil-thin arms and legs stick out from her black skirt and blue blouse. Oversize glasses cover her face, except for an ear-to-ear smile that breaks out easily and often when she speaks.

“This is my favorite place to study because it’s so peaceful here,” the 15-year-old says, gesturing around her at the small space that offers a view of the tops of the palm and papaya trees growing abundantly in her neighborhood in southern India. She spends hours here each evening. About half a mile away is her favorite part of the view—an ornately carved temple sitting atop a hill.

But over the edge of Subashini’s haven, the view changes dramatically. Slums are all around, as far as the eye can see. A woman washes aluminum dishes for the evening’s dinner on the mud streets outside her hut. More women, with colorful plastic pots, line up at a single public tap to collect drinking water that trickles out for an...