St Paul's School, Darjeeling - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Founded in 1823, St. Paul's School is one of Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

's oldest and most pre-eminent private boarding schools known for its rich academic tradition and elite alumni base. It is located in the town of Darjeeling, in the far northern portion of India. At about 7800 feet (2,377.4 m) above sea level, it is the highest private boarding school in the world. The school is also known as Eton college

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

of the East due to its exclusive nature. Admission is extremely competitive and the exorbitant fee structure and quality of education makes it an institution attended only by the elite of Asia.It is one of the most coveted and multicultural school in Asia

Asia

and there are alumni associations in 50 nations with regional head quarters in the UK, USA, India and Dubai. St.Paul's is home to over 750 Indian and international students from neighboring Sub-continental,South-East Asian and European countries. The school is run by the Church of North India

Church of North India

The Church of North India , the dominant Protestant denomination in northern India, is a united church established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together the main Protestant churches working in northern India...

and is led by the Rector, who functions as a school principal and resides on the sprawling 69 acres (279,233.3 m²)school campus which the biggest campus of any school in the world. The school follows the curriculum prescribed by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations is a private, non-governmental board of school education in India. It conducts two examinations in India: the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and the Indian School Certificate...

based in New Delhi and is considered the most academically rigorous school in the nation with most graduates going on to finance, diplomacy, politics, the armed forces and the law.

History

In 1823, John William Ricketts, an Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...

leader from Calcutta, conceived the idea of a school to meet the educational needs of the growing British

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

and Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indian

community in Calcutta. At 7:00 AM on (Thursday) May 1, 1823, the Parental Academic Institution was established and started functioning on 11, Park Street

Park Street, Kolkata

Mother Teresa Sarani, formerly Park Street and still often called by that name, and originally Burial Ground Road, is a street in the city of Kolkata , India. The street runs through what was a deer park of Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta from 1773 to 1789, hence...

between the Archbishop House and the then Sans Souci Theatre with an amount of then Rs 3551. The first Principal of the institution was Dr George Smith.

In 1847, the school was renamed St. Paul's School by Bishop Wilson, who had associated the school with St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata

St. Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral of the Church of North India - a united church which is part of the Anglican Communion - in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta, and the incumbent bishop is the Rt. Revd...

in Calcutta. During 1863, the school was in difficulties and Bishop Cotton decided to move the school to Darjeeling. The current buildings were not the location of the initial school and were later additions as the school expanded.

In 1864, the school was moved to its present Jalapahar

Jalapahar

Jalapahar is a ridge as well as a locality in the hilly town of Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. There was a British military camp in this locality in the Raj days. This ridge meets Katapahar ridge at Observatory Hill. St. Paul's School, one the oldest public schools, is located here...

("Burning Mountain") estate in Darjeeling with 31 boarders and a few day scholars. The estate was purchased from Mr Brian Hodgson for Rs.45,000. The original two-storied building, built on what is today known as the Lower Field, no longer exists, and the magnificent buildings that form the core of the school were largely built in 1898. The first electricity lines in the school were connected in 1909. The Lefroy Hospital was commissioned in 1914 and the Lyon Hall in 1915 respectively. In 1920, the chapel was demolished to make room for Westcott Hall, thanks to a liberal donation from the Maharaja of Burdwan. Construction for the existing school chapel began in 1933 and was completed in 1935.

The Rectory in St. Paul's School, Darjeeling houses the Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

of the school and his family. The Rectory is one of the oldest buildings in Darjeeling hailing from the British-Indian Era. Built in 1813, it was the residence of the owner of the Jalapahar estate till 1864. In 1864 Bishop G. E. L. Cotton acquired the Jalapahar Estate for establishing the School and this building was christened the 'Rectory' which remains, till today, the official residence of the Rector.

'Pelly's' is the residential building which houses the official residence of the Senior Master of St. Paul's School and his family. The building is named after a former Rector of the School, Rev. R. L. Pelly.

A number of its students fought in both World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Many of those who died are remembered in plaques that can be found in the school chapel. Bishop Foss Westcott, Metropolitan of Bengal, Burma and Ceylon, played a very important role in the school. L. J. Goddard, was the longest serving and, perhaps, the most important Rector, leading the school between 1934 and 1964 — including the transition from British-ruled to independent India. His successors were David Gibbs (1964–72) and Hari Dang (1977–84). L.J.Goddard and David Gibbs received the OBE.Goddard for his contribution to Education in India and his work at St Pauls and Gibbs for his work at St. Paul's, while Dang received the Padma Shri

Padma Shri

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...

.

Over the years, a number of estates were purchased and merged with the existing school estate, thus growing to its present size. The Mount Vernon Estate (now known as Dawkins) was purchased at the beginning of the 1900s and the Terpsithea Estate in 1955. The school was under the guidance of Mr. Gardner from 1984-1990.
Today, St.Paul's is home to over 750 Indian and international students from neighboring Sub-continental,South-East Asian and European countries. Mr. R. H. Soler (2007 - present) is the Officiating Rector and Headmaster (Senior Master) of the school.

Location

The school is situated in Darjeeling and shares the Jalapahar

Jalapahar

estate with an Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

Cantonment

A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military or police quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district, as is the name of the Cantons of Switzerland. In South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations...

. It is the highest public school in the world, located at 7800 feet (2,377.4 m) above sea level. The Kanchenjunga mountain range forms the scenic backdrop to the school. The school is physically separated from Darjeeling by its location on a high hill that is a few kilometres above the main town. Large expanses of wild land and greenery surrounds the campus, affording the campus a feeling of isolation and spectacular views of the town, the high foothills and snowy peaks of the Himalayas. Many believe the school's tennis and basketball courts are the highest, and the Chapel the second-highest in the world.

School system

The school is divided into Primary Wing (Classes I-V), Junior Wing (Classes VI-VIII) and Senior Wing (Classes IX-XII). The three wings run independent of each other with the Primary Wing being more independent from the other wings by virtue of having a semi independent campus and slight difference in uniform. The Senior and Junior wing share many of their facilities with each other.

The Rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

is the Head of the school. Next in line is the Senior Master who sees to the day to day functioning of the school, particularly the Senior Wing, while the operations of the Junior Wing and Primary Wing are seen to by the Head Junior Wing and Head Primary Wing respectively. All the departments of the school are run under the supervision of a Teacher in charge with the assistance of a student secretary.

The houses

House system

The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...

in the SW are named after distinguished persons from the British

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

period of Indian History.

Clive - named after Lord Clive, the first Governor of Bengal

Governor of Bengal

From 1690, a governor represented the British East India Company in Bengal, which had been granted the right to establish a trading post by the local rulers, the nawabs of Murshidabad, who were nominal vassals of the Mughal emperor in Delhi....

.

Hastings - named after Lord Hastings

Warren Hastings

Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...

, the Governor-General of Bengal from 1813-1823.

Havelock - named after Major-General Sir Henry Havelock

Henry Havelock

Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, KCB was a British general who is particularly associated with India. He was noted for his recapture of Cawnpore from rebels during Indian Rebellion of 1857.-Early life:...

, a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

general, noted for his role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

.

Lawrence - named after John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence

John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence

John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, GCB, GCSI, PC , known as Sir John Lawrence, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an Englishman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.-Early life:Lawrence came from Richmond, North Yorkshire...

, the Viceroy of India from 1864 to 1869.

The houses

House system

in the JW are named after either great benefactors of the school or those who have been closely associated with the school.

Anderson - named after John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley

John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley

John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC, PC was a British civil servant then politician who served as a minister under Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill as Home Secretary, Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Exchequer...

, Governor of Bengal

Governor of Bengal

(1933–1935), a benefactor to the school library.

Betten - named after Mr. Malcolm Betten, a tea planter and a member of the Board of Governors of St. Paul's School.

Cable - named after Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable

Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable

Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable was an Indian-born British merchant and financier.-Background:Born in Calcutta, he was the eldest son of George Hebberd Cable, a superintendent with the Indian Customs and Excise Service. His mother Emily Maria, was the daughter of William Pickersgill, who had served...

, an old boy of the school and a very generous benefactor.

Westcott - named after Bishop Foss Westcott

Foss Westcott

Foss Westcott was an English bishop.Westcott was the son of a distinguished clergyman, Brooke Foss Westcott and was educated at Cheltenham College and Peterhouse, Cambridge. Ordained in 1887, his first post was as curate of St Peter's Church, Bishopwearmouth...

, Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Paul's School for 35 years, and whose grave on the school grounds is a tourist attraction.

The houses

House system

in the PW are named and linked with the 1st successful expedition to Mount Everest in 1953.

Hunt - named after Lord Hunt

John Hunt

John Hunt may refer to:*John Hunt , Quaker minister, originally from London, England, and one of the "Virginia Exiles"*John Hunt , Quaker minister and journalist from Moorestown, New Jersey...

- the leader of the expedition.

Hillary - named after Sir Edmund Hillary who climbed Mount Everest in 1953.

Tenzing - named after Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay

Padma Bhushan, Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara Tenzing Norgay, GM born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer...

who climbed Mount Everest in 1953.

Everest - named after Colonel Sir George Everest

George Everest

Colonel Sir George Everest was a Welsh surveyor, geographer and Surveyor-General of India from 1830 to 1843.Sir George was largely responsible for completing the section of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India along the meridian arc from the south of India extending north to Nepal, a distance...

, former Surveyor-General of India. Mount Everest

Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

was named in his honour.

The staff is recruited from all over India. The staff of the Senior Wing are at least post-graduates from Indian and overseas universities. In the Junior wing and the Primary Wing, the staff is mainly composed of men and women who are trained teachers and under the direction of experienced heads. Most of the members of the staff live on the school estate. Some quarters adjoin the dormitories; others are on the boundaries of the estate in separate houses.

In addition to the teaching staff, there are the Matrons-in-charge of the personal welfare and care of the boys in the Senior, Junior and Primary Wings. Caterers are in charge of the boys' diet and of the cooking and serving of food. The Estate Manager’s duties include the maintenance of the buildings and of the estate in general along with the employment and welfare of the domestic staff.

Culture

Students of St. Pauls' are referred to as Paulites and the alumni as Old Paulites.

Uniform

The school uniform for the senior wing and junior wing boys are white shirt, gray trouser, gray jersey, black shoes, school blazers and school tie — the uniforms must be bought from either of the three prescribed stores: Kapurchand and Sons (Darjeeling); Bepin Behari Das (Calcutta) Akberaly's (Calcutta). On a daily basis the students are not required to wear the school blazer and must substitute the school tie for their respective house ties. The boys of primary wing have the same uniform with a gray shirt substituting the white shirt and shorts for younger children. On visits outside of the school campus, all students are required to dress in prescribed suits and carry umbrellas, thus earning them the nickname chhata wala (chhata meaning umbrella in various Indian languages). The students of the sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

wear distinct blazers from the rest of the students.

Student government

The student government consists of staff-appointed prefects, headed by a School Captain

School Captain

School Captain is a student appointed or elected to represent the school.This student, usually in the senior year, in their final year of attending that school...

, who is assisted by the Vice Captain, house captains and prefects. These students are typically drawn from Class 12 in Senior Wing and impose order among the student body. Junior and Primary Wings have their own system of prefects and are called monitors, who exercise jurisdiction over their own wings. The sixth form

Sixth form

students enjoy advantages over the rest of the students. The school prefects wear prefect's neck ties in order to distinguish themselves from their peers.

The Gym

The Gerrard Van gym is the new privately-maintained gym. It has bodybuilding

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

equipment and provides energy drinks, bars and supplements. At the end of the year, certificates are given to punctual and progressive students. Students were earlier trained to perform annual artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting . The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique , which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite...

exhibitions which included uneven parallel bars, balance beam, floor exercises

Floor (gymnastics)

In gymnastics, the floor refers to a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The event in gymnastics performed on floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is FX.A spring...

and other such activities at the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club, although this practice has since been discontinued. When boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

was part of the school sports calendar, a ring used to be built in the gym.

Services & Programmes

Community-service and nation-building programmes are a part of the school programmes under the NCC

National Cadet Corps (India)

The National Cadet Corps is the Indian military cadet corps with its Headquarters at New Delhi. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis....

, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award , is a programme of activities that can be undertaken by anyone aged 14 to 24, regardless of personal ability....

, the IAYP

International Award Association

In 1988, representatives of the Award Programme worldwide founded The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association ....

and Outward Bound activities.

Clubs and societies

These are all run by the boys under the supervision of masters. Each of the four Houses in the Senior Wing presents a concert from time to time, and the School Dramatic Society stages a play annually in October. Indian and Western music and elocution and drama play a part in the lives of the boys, assisting in the development of self-confidence. A boy joins the club of his choice at the commencement of first term. In the Senior Wing, the hobbies that are encouraged include Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...

, Indian

Music of India

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...

and Western classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, model making, photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, woodworking

Woodworking

Woodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...

and lathe work

Lathe

A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation.Lathes are used in woodturning,...

, and computer programming

Computer programming

Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...

Sports

In the book Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora (2001), the authors Paul Dimeo and James Mills credit former Rector, L J Goddard, with "ensuring the popularity of soccer at the school as he created new pitches and played in the school XI. He did the same for cricket. The game tradition that he made secure lives on to this day in the Anglo-Indian St. Paul's.... Goddard was responsible for transforming a crumbling monument to inefficiency and woolly-mindedness into one of the finest education institutions in Asia. Renowned for its academic and athletic achievements, for its highly-disciplined, well-mannered boys and its healthy cosmopolitanism...." The school places stress on the development of sports spirit among the students. The school follows a sports calendar with seasons reserved for different sports. The major sports seasons are cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, football, hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

and athletics

Athletics (track and field)

Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

. While other sports like basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, squash

Squash (sport)

Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

, eton fives

Eton Fives

Eton Fives, one derivative of the British game of Fives, is a hand-ball game, similar to Rugby Fives, played as doubles in a three-sided court. The object is to force the other team to fail to hit the ball 'up' off the front wall, using any variety of wall or ledge combinations as long as the ball...

and gymnastics

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

are interjected between the major seasons.
It is compulsory for all students to compete in inter-house leagues for all the sports during their respective seasons. The seasons end with the house teams competing against each other for the championships. The school has official teams for most of the sports which represent the school. St. Paul's School is one of the few places in the world and the only one in India which maintains an eton fives

Eton Fives

court and plays the sport as a part of their annual sports calendar.

Awards

The school has an annual prize-giving ceremony where awards are given out for excellence in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. During the annual Sports Day, certificates recognizing athletic achievements are given to the students. The school also follows the tradition of awarding Colours to students for exceptional achievements in sports or other extra-curricular activities. The award gives the recipient the privilege of wearing a special necktie and a star under the school crest on his school blazer. Receiving five Colours gives the student the privilege of wearing a special white blazer. However, Colours are awarded sparsely and years may separate them, while white blazers are extremely rare, with only a few instances being recorded in the school's long history.
On the last day of school, called G.H.D, trophies are given out to the houses for winning intra-school tournaments and events. One house traditionally is recognized as the winner of the year based on year-long tabulation of points earned during various inter-house competitions. Besides "bragging" rights for the next year, the house also wins the ″Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

Shield″, which is displayed in the winning house's corner in the dining hall for the following year.

Publications

The school publishes a fortnightly student-run magazine called The Paulite and an annual St. Paul's School Chronicle; besides these, the Kolkata-based Old Paulites Association publishes a magazine for the school alumni. The Old Paulite Association (Europe) publishes and circulates a bi-annual Newsletter.

The Chapel

The Chapel holds a central place in the life of the school. It is here that the school meets as a community for prayer and worship. Students from the Senior and Junior Wings attend Chapel daily, while the boys from the Primary Wing attend on a weekly basis. It is the Chapel where the daily announcements are made. Boys and staff of diverse faiths worship together in the Chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

. Boys and staff of many faiths and denominations share and to some extent officiate, in the experience. Many of the Occasional Prayers used in the service book are poems from Gitanjali

Gitanjali

Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations, of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated....

or are other works by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

, or are quotations from the Gathas

Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathusthra himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrian faith.-Structure and organization:...

, or from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...

and Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

, or from the Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

, or the Koran along with Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

prayers.

Exeats

The environment the children grow up in is strictly controlled, and interaction with the outside is limited to exeats (permits for town leaves) twice a month for the boys of the Senior Wing, once a month for the boys of the Junior Wing and once in two months chaperoned exeats for the boys of the Primary Wing. During these exeats, the movement of the students are restricted and many areas of Darjeeling are out of bounds for them. The students are allowed a limited amount of pocket money and must wear the prescribed school uniform. Besides the day exeats, overnight exeats, typically over certain weekends, are issued (the frequency of which differs from wing to wing) to children when a parent or a person authorized by the parents visits the boy. Even during these overnight exeats, the student is expected to follow the schools guidelines pertaining to the dress code and out of limit areas.

Sunshine Holiday

Darjeeling has gloomy and persistent rainfall during the monsoon seasons, often lasting for days. The sunshine holiday is a unique feature of the school culture where an unscheduled holiday is declared on a sunny day after a long spell of Darjeeling monsoons.

Chota Hazri

A part of the school culture is the chota hazri, a tradition from the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

which is still practised today. Chota hazri is early morning tea served with biscuits. Chota hazri is more stringently followed in the Primary and Senior Wings.

Recognition and Awards

According to the EW Survey of School 2009, conducted by Education World Magazine, the school has been acknowledged as the Best Residential School in Eastern India (Ranked 7th in India) and the Best Residential School in Academics in India for the year 2008-09.

According to the EducationWorld C-Fore Survey 2011, St Paul School, Darjeeling retains its position in the elite group of the 10 Best Residential Schools in the country and is the Best Residential School in Eastern India for the year 2010-2011. This recognition was formally received by the Headmaster, Mr R H Soler, at the Education World Awards Night on 17 September 2011 in New Delhi.

Notable alumni

The Old Paulites Association is a community spread across the world, holding meetings in India, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Europe and North America. It has an Internet presence at the official website for Old Paulites. The Old Paulite Association (Europe) publishes and circulates a twice yearly newsletter.

Alumni with wikipedia

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...

articles are listed below -

Jamling Tenzing Norgay
Jamling Tenzing Norgay
Jamling Tenzing Norgay is an Indian-Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber.He is the son of Tenzing Norgay and Daku, his third wife...

is the first son of an Everest summiteer to climb the summit of Mt. Everest
Tashi Tenzing
Tashi Tenzing
Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing is a Sherpa mountaineer. He is the youngest son of Pem Pem, the eldest daughter of Tenzing Norgay, who made the first ascent of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953....

is the first grandson of an Everest summiteer to climb Mt. Everest
Dr. Munir Butt
Munir Butt
Munir Udit Zadu Nehru Butt, CMG is a former senior British diplomat and academic who was an economic and foreign policy advisor to various British Prime-Ministers.-Early life:...

is a former British diplomat and economic and foreign policy advisor to former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
Ammar Siamwalla
Ammar Siamwalla
Ammar Siamwalla is one of Thailand's most prominent economists. His ancestors were Indians who immigrated and founded a local stationary business, .- Education :...

heads the Thailand Development Research Institute
Thailand Development Research Institute
The Thailand Development Research Institute is a non-profit non-government Thai policy think tank focused social and economic development issues...

(and is a former minister in Thailand).
Rehman Sobhan
Rehman Sobhan
Rehman Sobhan is a prominent Bangladeshi economist and civil society leader. He played a leading role in the Bengali nationalist movement in the 1960s, including authoring the Two Economies Theory and drafting the Six point demands of Bengali nationalists...

played a key role in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

(becoming a member of its first Planning Commission) and now chairs the Centre for Policy Dialogue
Centre for Policy Dialogue
The Centre for Policy Dialogue is a non-governmental think-tank of Bangladesh, and has been identified as one of the leading think-tanks of the world by the think tank survey conducted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, USA....

, Dhaka.
Dr. Rustum Roy
Rustum Roy
Rustum Roy was a materials scientist who held visiting professorships in materials science at Arizona State University and in medicine at the University of Arizona, as well as an emeritus position at Pennsylvania State University in three departments...

is a founder of the inter-disciplinary field of Materials Science (the Materials Science lab that he headed at Pennsylvania State University for three decades was named the world's #1 Materials Science lab by ISI);
Kaizad Gustad
Kaizad Gustad
Kaizad Gustad is an Indian film director and writer. He is best known for his 1998 comedy Bombay Boys and debut novel Of No Fixed Address....

is an Indian filmmaker, his credits include Bombay Boys
Bombay Boys
Bombay Boys is an unorthodox comedy film written and directed by the Indian director Kaizad Gustad. It follows the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai . The boys are of Indian origin, but were all raised in the West. Krishna Sahni is an aspiring actor from New York who wants to...

, Boom
Boom (2003 film)
Boom is a Bollywood film that was released on 19 September 2003. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Padma Lakshmi, Madhu Sapre, Katrina Kaif and Zeenat Aman. The film is directed by Kaizad Gustad and produced by Jackie Shroff's wife, Ayesha Shroff...

and Bombil and Beatrice
Bombil and Beatrice
Bombil & Beatrice is a movie by Kaizad Gustad released at the Cannes film festival in 2007....

.
Anjan Dutta
Anjan Dutta
Anjan Dutta is a popular artist of the 1990s Bengali music scene defined by anyodharar gaan . Anjan Dutta's style of music is different from the others in the sense that it has simple tunes, one that is reminiscent of western folk music. His lyrics are simple and more natural...

is an acclaimed Indian director, actor and musician. His credits include Chalo Let's Go
Chalo Let's Go
Cholo Let's Go is a 2008 Indian movie in Bengali starring Ritwick Chakrabarty, Rudraneel Ghosh, Saswata Chatterjee and Parambrata Chatterjee and directed by Anjan Dutta.-Plot:...

, Bow Barracks Forever
Bow Barracks Forever
-Plot:Bow Barracks Forever is a film about the disaster of the human spirit. It is not easy to fight back the march of progress. And progress brings with it change-change that is often painful, that breaks continuity, that destroys tradition, history, the power and the passion of communities that...

and The Bong Connection
The Bong Connection
The Bong Connection is a 2006 Indian movie starring Raima Sen, Shayan Munshi and Parambrata Chatterjee and directed by Anjan Dutta. The movie is based on the lives of Bengalis in the U.S. and Kolkata.-Plot:...

.
Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable
Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable
Ernest Cable, 1st Baron Cable was an Indian-born British merchant and financier.-Background:Born in Calcutta, he was the eldest son of George Hebberd Cable, a superintendent with the Indian Customs and Excise Service. His mother Emily Maria, was the daughter of William Pickersgill, who had served...

was a prominent British-Indian merchant and financier.
Peter Hildreth
Peter Hildreth
Peter Hildreth was a British hurdling athlete. Born in Bedford, he reached the semi-finals of the 110 metre hurdles at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, finishing 12th. He also represented Britain at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Games...

is a former British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

athlete
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...

. He represented Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

at the 1952 Olympic Games
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

, 1956 Melbourne Games
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

and the 1960 Rome Games
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

.
Louis Banks
Louis Banks
Louis Banks is a Grammy Award nominated film composer, record producer, jazz musician-keyboardist and singer...

is one of India's best known jazz artists. He is best known as the composer of the iconic song Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
"Ek sur" , or "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" as it is better known, is an Indian song and accompanying video promoting national integration and unity in diversity....

.
Kelly Dorji
Kelly Dorji
Kelly Dorji is a Bhutanese actor and model based in Mumbai, India. He studied at St. Paul's School, Darjeeling and later St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Dorji got his break into the mainstream through the Gladrags Manhunt Contest....

is a Bhutanese
Bhutanese
Bhutanese may refer to:* Something of, or related to Bhutan* The official national language of Bhutan, Dzongkha * A person from Bhutan, or of Bhutanese descent...

model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, who is active in bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

and other regional film industries.

Dr Utpal Ray well known for business in medicines.

In popular culture

The school has been featured in Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

and Bengali language

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

films. Hamraaz
Hamraaz
Hamraaz is a 1967 Hindi film produced and directed by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Mumtaz, Sarika, Madan Puri, Iftekhar, Balraj Sahni, Jeevan, Helen and Vimi. The films music is by Ravi...

(1967) , Mera Naam Joker
Mera Naam Joker
Mera Naam Joker is a 1970 Hindi film directed by Raj Kapoor. The screenplay was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. This film was the debut of Rishi Kapoor. Mera Naam Joker is a film about a clown who must make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. The film is reportedly inspired by Raj...

(1970) by Raj Kapoor

Raj Kapoor

Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...

, Shimabaddha (1971) by Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...

, Do Anjaane
Do Anjaane
Do Anjaane is a 1976 Hindi film. Produced by Tito, it is directed by Dulal Guha. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Prem Chopra, Pradeep Kumar, Utpal Dutt, Lalita Pawar and a young pre-stardom Mithun Chakraborty. The music is by Kalyanji Anandji...

(1976), Bada Din (2000), Main Hoon Na
Main Hoon Na
Main Hoon Na is a Bollywood masala film written and directed by Farah Khan. It was the first film of Khan production company Red Chillies Entertainment. It was released on 30 April 2004 and went on to become a box-office success...

(2004) by Farah Khan

Farah Khan

Farah Khan is an Indian film director and choreographer. She is best known for her choreographical work in numerous Bollywood films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 Hindi films. Khan has since become a noted Hindi film director as well...

and Chowrasta Crossroads of Love (2009) by Anjan Dutta

Anjan Dutta

Anjan Dutta is a popular artist of the 1990s Bengali music scene defined by anyodharar gaan . Anjan Dutta's style of music is different from the others in the sense that it has simple tunes, one that is reminiscent of western folk music. His lyrics are simple and more natural...

are among them.

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...

was born in the school campus at a place now known as Dawkins, beside the old basketball court. Today, Dawkins houses staff members teaching at the school.

In the year 2010, the school witnessed General V. K. Singh (Chief of Army Staff, India) as the chief guest to the 187th Speech Day.

The school motto is derived from the passage 'Cedamus Phoebo, et moniti meliora sequamur' in the Latin epic Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...

by Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...

. 'Moniti meliora sequamur' means: "Having Been Advised, We Follow Better (Higher) Things"

Jay Welinkar: Prominant & well heeled International Hotelier at Intercontinental Hotels Group. Currently General Manager Holiday Inn Pune.

External links

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