Doon Online - The Rosebowl Dec 31st, 2000 - 10 Headmaster’s Founder’s Day Speech

The Rosebowl Dec 31st, 2000

Mr. Arun Shourie, Members of the Board of Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me much pleasure to present my report for the year 1999-2000. I will start with examinations and move on to more pleasant things. In March this year we presented 65 students for the ISC examination of whom 64 were successful. 7 boys were awarded aggregate marks above 90%. Udayan Das Roy placed first with 94%.

A feature in the performance of this batch was the good result secured in Science: 37% students obtained the top grade in Physics and 48% obtained the top grade in Chemistry. In the ICSE (Class X) 99 students took the examination and all of them were successful. 10 boys secured above 80%. Sudhanshu Kasewa placed first with 92.8%. The school recognised the abilities of the following boys with the award of the Scholar’s Blazer: Bharat Kejriwal, Hari Inder Singh Jaaj, Spandan, Archi Rastogi, Keshav Baljee, Anant Prasad and Abhyuday Prashad.

While there has been an increased emphasis on academics we continue to work towards a better learning base at school. Among the initiatives being projected by the academic council for the coming year is the pragmatic provision of more time for teaching, in all classes.

The school is doing everything in its power to provide opportunities for the admission of talented and motivated children from all sections of society. The Scholarship Awards Committee consisting of Justice Leela Seth (Retd), as Chairperson, Mr. Vikram Lal, Mr. R.C. Bhargava, Chairman of the Board and the Headmaster and Controller, met twice last year to approve the award of scholarships for 78 boys of the school amounting to Rs. 23 lacs. In a significant decision the Board of Governors recently also approved the institution of 10 full scholarships for boys of merit in the school with effect from academic year 2001.

Our Teachers’ Centre has a membership of 40 schools in the Dehra Dun and Mussoorie district and has been serving teachers with regular educational programmes, as well as conducting school surveys and inspections. The Centre is now assisting La Martiniere, Lucknow to open a similar centre for teachers in Lucknow.

Further to the emphasis the school has placed on academic work, is a heightened initiative on career guidance. We have received the assistance of a well-known career counselling organisation in carrying out aptitude tests and providing advice on vocational choices for senior students. Parents have also had an opportunity of dialogue with qualified advisers on campus in the last two days.

We firmly regard our complex network of extra mural activities as essential education. It is in such transaction that a boy discovers his gifts, draws confidence from his abilities and develops a breadth of interests. This liberal curriculum is also ideal for the inculcation of positive values, and you may be sure we lose no opportunity in drawing lessons from everyday examples of struggle and triumph, that surface in school life.

A recent strategy has been to give enhanced opportunities and training for junior teams in sport. The idea goes beyond the obvious ‘catch ‘em young’ notion to a more realistic objective of giving young members of this community an equal sense of belonging. This is an emphasis that is carried beyond sport to every activity practised, so that the school can cherish the individual and nurture his gifts, whether sporting or aesthetic. If any school in the country can truly individualize, we can, having a pupilage of just 500.

Fundamental to this practice is the assurance that every child has a right to grow in self-regard. I believe that we have made some progress in recent times in introducing a mutually respecting culture in the domestic life of the school.

Sport functions as the man recreational activity of the school. Our basketball team won the 10th Afzal Khan Basketball Tournament as well as the District Basketball Tournament and enjoyed the distinction of sending Anant Prasad, Punet Sadanan and Cabit Maira to represent Dehra Dun in the Under-19 Basketball Championship. The school hosted the UP State Table Tennis Championship in November ‘99. Rajat Jain and Vidit Nagory represented Dehra Dun in the UP State Table Tennis Championship. Rajat Jain is a member of the regular UP Team.

Efforts continue to encourage specilization in sport by boys of exceptional merit. We have coaches for practically every sporting activity and it has been possible in individual sports to encourage specilization among a few seniors. Our athletes showed exceptional form in the District Championship last December winning the trophy for the Best Performance in the men’s category.

Tennis is coming up to a good standard. We fared well in the recent IPSC Tennis Tournament held in Hyderabad recently. Awaiting implementation in the next year is the Sports Complex, consisting of six tennis courts, two basketball courts and two squash courts to come up in the area behind Kashmir and Hyderabad houses.

Awarded the Games Blazer for their exceptional abilities in sport were Dwij Chatterjee, Hari Inder Singh Jaaj, Adnan Shaikh, Naaji N. Shah, Arush Sogani, Rahul Chaudhary, Akshay Chowdhury, Jubaran Borogohain and Deep Singh.

The International Award for Young People has been a means of challenging boys in different types of endeavour. This year 27 boys were awarded the Bronze, 19 the Silver and is the Gold Standards. This along with Games & Scholars’ Blazers, are coveted honours that boys strive and yearn for, as they are reliable, consistent symbols of excellence. With considerable pride we place on record the unique achievement of Hari Inder Singh Jaaj, last year’s School Captain, who achieved the triple award of Games, Scholars and IAYP Gold Blazer.

We had a feast of drama in the Spring Term this year. Our Mr. Hamaad Farooqui’s town production of ‘Khubsurat Bahu’ was staged in February. In April, Dehra Dun citizens, with a taste for western music had a special treat when Dalip Tahil’s troupe stage their production of ‘The Man of La Mancha’ in our auditorium. We thank Mr. Tahil for introducing the community to a genere of professional theatre and helping us raise substantial funds for our social service work in Orissa. We did something new in March when Zarin Chaudhuri, Director of the Action Players in Calcutta, spent a fortnight here working with our boys on mine, including a Showcase that amply demonstrated the power of this medium. For the summer production in May we presented a delightful satire, ‘Taj Mahal Ka Tender’ in the Rosebowl.

The Vimal Bhagat award for contribution to theatre in English was made to Udai Singh Jhala and the Superama Award for contribution to Hindi theatre was made to Naved Farooqui.

Quizzing saw a year of somewhat diminished fortunes compensated, however, by the stellar success of Mr. Ajai Banerji, Mathematics teacher, Master in charge of Quizzing, who shot into the national limelight by winning the BBC Mastermind (India) Contest in Jaipur in December ’99. In order that every boy be sufficiently inspired by Mr. Banerji’s exceptional feat, the school celebrated his success in time-honoured manner with a big feast.

Music continues to do more than provide solace to the savage breast. Our music competition in September, while undoubtedly sharpened by the DOSCO’s zest for house competition revealed a versatile range of talents.