A Poila Baisakh like no other.

Many of the 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in government-aided schools who had lost their jobs after a Supreme Court verdict on April 3 were sitting at Esplanade’s Y-channel on Tuesday, continuing their protest.

While some of them sat together to share a meal on Tuesday, many were miles away from their families, fighting to get their jobs back.

The teachers narrated their plight to Metro.

Dhitish Mondal, 34

Dhitish Mondal’s hopes are hanging by a thread that could snap any moment, he said.

One of the spokespersons of the Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum, which is spearheading the teachers’ movement, Mondal spent Poila Baisakh away from his four-year-old daughter.

“The entire city is celebrating today. We can see people coming to Esplanade to dine with their families and friends, and here we are sitting in the heart of the city, waiting for a resolution. Who should be held accountable for our plight?” asked the Sonarpur resident.

Mondal taught Bengali to Classes IX and X at Sinher Danri Kedarnath High School in South 24-Parganas

“I am struggling internally. My daughter studies in a private school. She has not been going to school since the Supreme Court verdict. My wife tells me our child is traumatised. And I cannot be by her side to comfort her,” said the sole breadwinner of the family of five.

“How long can we keep arranging funds while being jobless? We pooled the amount for the special leave petition in the Supreme Court. And again for the review petition,” he said.

Sumitra Singh, 42

Sumitra Singh’s routine in the last few days has been to travel back and forth from Chandernagore.

She has to go back home to her mother, undergoing cancer treatment, her aged in-laws and other family members. Singh was a history teacher in Classes IX and X at Prabartak Nari Mandir in Chandernagore.

“There is no assurance of anything. I used to teach at a private school in Dankuni, which I quit when I got recruited to a government-aided school. Who knew a government job would be as uncertain,” she said.

Singh has an EMI of ₹22,000 for a loan to build a house.

Increasingly, society is becoming less tolerant towards the ordeal of the dismissed teachers, she said.

“People’s attitude is changing. People pass by, sometimes without even noticing us. There is also an attitude that this Supreme Court verdict will cleanse the society of all its corruption. But what about those of us who were not corrupt? Who will listen to us?”

Smriti Pramanik, 36

When Smriti Pramanik set out from home to be part of the protest at Esplanade’s Y-channel, her father told her: “Fight till you get justice.”

Pramanik taught life science in Classes IX and X at Muralipukur High School in Murshidabad.

“I know that I got the job based on merit and not any dishonest means. I have faith that the system will be able to distinguish the tainted from the untainted,” she said.

Pramanik is a BSc in botany from Kalyani University and a postgraduate in the subject from Visva-Bharati.

“I always wanted to be a teacher, but it is painful to see where my aspiration has gotten me,” she said.

Pramanik is travelling from Nadia’s Santipur to take part in the protest.

“Like many of my counterparts, I don’t have a loan to repay. But my financial independence and dignity have been taken away. I cannot go to my husband and ask him to pay my bills or fund my expenses,” she said.