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| The Rosebowl Jan 31st, 2000 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 |
........primary school, which will also serve as an emergency shelter in the village.
This year our young mountaineers chose to climb Bhagirathi II at over 21000 ft. in May/June. The expedition was led by Dr. Arvind Shukla and included the intrepid Mr. Richard Anderson, on his last Indian Adventure, as well as Mr. Pankaj Joshi and five boys: Sushant Pradhan, Karn Singh, Rohit Vats, Nikhilendra Singh and Gangan Bhatia. The entire team successfully reached the summit camp at 19000 ft., when the weather deteriorated drastically and they wisely turned back. But, not for home, not before they reached the top of another mountain, the comparatively tractable Mount Thelu (19692 ft.).
While on the subject of outdoor experience, the mid term exposure in the last year has suffered some constraints following last October's unseasonal rain and subsequent landslides in many areas of Garhwal. Practically the entire school, with factually were marooned in this unprecedented upheaval and we are deeply grateful to the local administration for their vigilance and assistance over this trying period. In the two subsequent mid-terms the weather has also been bad, so our movements have been restricted by safety considerations.
Visiting faculty, drawn by the school's reputation for versatility add value through their enthusiasm, competence and someVerdana, downright singularity. Judith and David Mac Dougall were here in summer and set up, in collaboration with the Teachers' Centre, a three week programme on Video method for Teaching and Cross Cultural Studies in which educators from a number of countries participated. David MacDougall is among the most respected documentary film makers in the world. He has spent two years, intermittently, at the Doon School putting the boys' lives here on to video-tape. He expects to spend the better part of a year editing several hours of this material into a few short films. We have no doubt that his intellectual and artistic sincerity will realise discerning perceptions of the school and we thank him for the interest with which he pursued this cultural project.
Mr. Mark Strut from Highgate School, London, taught mathematics and Mr. Will Hone from St. Philip's College, Australia, English during the Spring term '99. Mr. Richard Anderson from St. Edward School, England, finished a year with us in July to return home while Mr. Vijay Pokhriyal, who had been on exchange with Mr. Anderson, came back inspired and motivated by the exposure to a different system.
In October, we had a brief visit by Jeremy and Jan Geidt. Jeremy is both a teacher who acts and an actor who teaches and he divides his time equally between drama classes and the Repertory Theatre at Harvard University. Jeremy held animated discussions with the boys on their Shakespeare texts.
Gen. Sethna [ex 191-K '41] and Kunal Verma [ex 192-HB] visited the school and presented a documentary film on the History of the Kashmir Conflict and held discussions with the boys on the subject.
In the student community 8 boys from Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the U.K. and Cyprus spent time with us while 11 of our boys visited schools abroad.
School Improvements
Work on renovating and retrofitting of Hyderabad and Kashmir houses, among the oldest buildings in the school, ended in February just in time for the Chamoli earthquake to test the quality of the reconstruction. Both houses withstood the trauma without the slightest damage. In the summer vacation Tata House was renovated and Oberoi House was scrubbed and tidied in preparation of its 10th birthday. Our major projects at the moment are - upgradation of the kitchen in the CDH on modern lines as well as improvements in our external electrification. The Accounts Office is working on an all system computerization and the academic administration is in the process of computerizing school records. We envisage networking between all essential departments in the administration in due course.
Two batches of old boys have joined us in transacting change. Our Chief Guest has, this morning, inaugurated our new library management system, which will improve our control over the 21000 plus books in the school library. Several computers have also been installed in the library for information souring, and audio systems, complete with headphones, for music appreciation. This magnificent gift has come from the Class of '74, celebrating their Silver Jubilee at the school this year. Without prejudice to their magnanimity I must add my appreciation that the old school has trained them well in getting value for money. But stronger than their acumen for quality is their affection for their school that led them to divert several hundred hours of their time to realising this project.
Another project under production in the style of the late Mr. Cecil B. DeMille is the archives, the grand idea of the Class '75 who have been working since December last year for inauguration at their Silver Jubilee in October 2000. Engaged on the project is Mr. M.I. Siddiqui, former Archives officer from the UP State Archives. With great patience he has collated an awesome amount of material which presently occupies a large room but will, in significant part, magically disappear into the modest space requirements of a computer. A school that can take good care of its past is assured of a good future.
We have taken a few committed steps in computer-aided learning through individual and class teaching and hope to establish the facility at the house level within a year. I place on record our appreciation of Mr. Jayant Lal, whose initiative has provided impetus in this venture. A fascinating educational possibility, currently being explored, is that of cyber-exchange which we have engaged in with the children of Harker School in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, USA.
Among significant school improvements is our steady progress in our scholarship scheme. The newly constituted Awards Committee was chaired by Justice Leila Seth at a meeting in April when scholarships were awarded to 99 pupils of the school.
The Board of Governors takes a close interest in the continuing development of the school and I record my appreciation of their encouragement of our work. We welcome on the Board two new members Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia and Prof. H.S. Soch, representative of Association of Indian Universities. I would like to thank General Bilimoria who has completed his tenure on the Board for his positive role both as a Board member as well as a member of our Project Committee. He has always been generous with his time and helpful with his advice.
I cannot conclude this report without acknowledging the huge and loyal support of our Controller, Brig. B.N. Singh, in the daily running of the school.
My thanks to the Deans, house masters and faculty who influence the life of the school, to the hardworking administration and devoted service staff. My appreciation to parents for their faith in us and to every boy of the school for your cheerful acceptance of a life of change.
John Mason
Results of 2nd DSOBS golf Tournament, 1999
Hyderabad Ist
01. J.S. Bedi, Delhi 40
02. Nalin Khanna, Delhi 40
03. Vipin Malhotra, Delhi 40
04. Denis Kapur, Delhi 40
160
Jaipur IInd
01. Abhishek Mishra, Delhi 41
02. Shiv Sagar Suri, Delhi 38
03. Nauhar Rana, Delhi 40
04. Vijay Thapar 39
158
Kashmir IIIrd
01. Vivek Bharatram, Delhi 41
02. Jagdish Ranger, Delhi 38
03. J.S. Gill, Delhi 38
04. Manjit Singh, Delhi 39
156
Tata IVth
01. Gurmet Singh, Delhi 39
02. P.S. Chopra, Delhi 40
03. Rajiv Nanda 37
04. Gurpreet, Chandigarh 38
154
Prizes at the Delhi Tournament 17 September 1999
1. Longest drive 6th hole:Gurpreet Singh, 299 yds.
2. Longest drive 18th hole:Jayath Nalagarh, 324 yds.
3. Closest to the pin 3rd hole:Kulbir Singh 3 ft 9 inches
4. Closest to the pin with hole:Sunil Sahni, 7 ft.
5. Best front nine:Shivinder Singh, 22 points
6. Best Back Nine:Nauhar Rana 22 points
7. Nett Stableford score Runner Up:Abhishek Mishra 41 points
8. Nett Stableford score Winner:Vivek Bharat Ram 41 points
9. Bocby prize (lowest No. of pts.):Satish Anand - 1 point
The highlight of the tournament was a sub par round of 1 under
by Denis Kapur.