Dantewada:
Deep inside the Maoist country in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada, everyone is on the edge. Barbed wire and check posts have increasingly become a part of the landscape here.
Even the cops at various police stations here feel insecure.
The well-armed Maoists use landmines while attacking, which the security agencies believe they acquired from the LTTE in the 1980s.
From attacks on vehicles of security forces, to blowing up the civilian bus, everyone has been brazenly targeted. And there doesn't seem to be much security forces can even do.
Inadequately equipped, forces here have been forced take cover in school buildings.
Vikram Verma, commanding the Bravo Company of the CRPF's 2nd battalion is worried. His challenge is not only to take on Maoists and keep his men safe, but also intelligence gathering.
"Maoists use human couriers - a very old but effective system of gathering intelligence. They don't even trust cell phones," he said.
Mr Nag, the acting principal of the school, is equally worried. Schools are often soft targets for Maoists and a CRPF camp just in front of it is a constant reminder of the lurking insecurity.
And this is one reason for falling standards at this school, which has 250 students but only four teachers. Besides, it hasn't won as many trophies as it once used to.
And if this was not enough, a few yards away is the primary healthcare centre. The only doctor here was killed by Maoists two months ago.