Legacy of Sanawar: The oldest co-ed boarding school in the country
Nestled in nature’s verdant embrace, The Lawrence School has become eponymous with the Sanawar hill upon which it stands.
Rudyard Kipling famously wrote in Kim:“It’s miraculous beyond all whooping. We’ll make a man of you at Sanawar.” And indeed, the heritage school counts world leaders, top businessmen, distinguished army officers and renowned artistes among its alumni.
Nestled in nature’s verdant embrace, The Lawrence School has become eponymous with the Sanawar hill upon which it stands. Driving on the narrow winding road, one can’t help but be awed by the pristine greenery of its 139-acre campus. Its grand stone buildings with large Georgian windows, wide stone staircases, two cannons and a ‘buggy’ harken to the colonial times it was built in. One of the oldest buildings is the 167-year-old school chapel with its exquisite stained glass windows. A war memorial commemorating the fallen heroes of Sanawar is a stark reminder of its past as a millitary asylum.
Memories in Sepia
Established in 1847 by Sir Henry Lawrence and his wife Honoria, the school is believed to be the world’s first co-educational boarding school. Sir Lawrence wanted to open an asylum for orphans of British soldiers to shelter them from the “debilitating effects of the tropical climate and the demoralising influence of barrack life”. The cool environs and sylvan surroundings of the Sanawar hillock with the plains and British troops at a stone’s throw was deemed an excellent spot.
In 1853, the school became the first and one of the only six schools and colleges in the world to be presented with the King’s Colours and holds the distinction of holding the Colours for the longest unbroken period. In 1857, it became the only school to be administrated directly by the Crown.
Its centenary year (1947) was a momentous one as most of the staff and students returned to Britain. However, then governor general Lord Mountbatten presided over the centenary celebrations and read out a special message from King George VI.
Military tradition
The military training provided at Sanawar was known to be so vigorous that several contingents of boys were sent straight to the battlefields of the Great War. In appreciation of this, the school was renamed the Lawrence Royal Military School in 1920. In 1922, the Prince of Wales presented the school with new Colours. These Colours continue to be trooped at the founder’s day celebrations to this day. In October 1941, a special message was broadcast by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to honour the contributions of Sanawar in the Second World War.
Prominent alumni in the armed forces, include air marshal KC Cariappa, who was shot during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 and was taken prisoner, second lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, the youngest recipient of the Param Vir Chakra and admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, former chief of the naval staff.
Though it is no longer a military school, it still impresses upon its students the values of discipline, punctuality and the spirit of never giving in. The daily routine of the students includes silently marching past the war memorial beside the chapel as soon as the bugle call is heard.
Resident ghosts
Located at the foot of the brooding Himalayas with mist enveloping its colonial buildings all year round, is it any wonder that Sanawar has a treasure trove of ghost stories. Indeed the resident ghosts haunting the campus are old ‘Sanawarians’ in their own right.
Perhaps the most popular resident ghost is the headless chowkidar (watchman). Headmaster Vinay Pande says the ghost is notorious for haunting the Horseshoe Bend near the school and approaching all those who dare to cross the area on misty nights.
Milan Takshak, a student of Class 9, narrates how the watchman came to be decapitated. “Once, a boy and his sweetheart sneaked out at night to meet each other but the watchman apprehended the couple. Enraged, the boy chopped the watchman’s head.”
The ghost haunting the swimming pool is also famous. Some people say it is the spirit of a British woman, others say her name was Maya.
It is believed that she screams for help in the middle of the night. However, a lesser known fact is that the story was, in fact, perpetuated by the present headmaster to encourage a naughty team from Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, to calm down.
Pande says, “I decided to tell the rowdy boys about the ghost that haunted the Redfield swimming pool who resented being disturbed at night. Later, I asked one of the pupils to sit outside the door with a bucket of water and make the splashing sound. One of the younger boys with a shriller voice was asked to call out for help, 20 minutes later the team was lying down quietly with blankets over their heads.”
Himachal Pradesh member of legislative assembly Rakesh Singha, an alumnus, recalls that his group of friends decided to visit the haunted chapel at night and heard an unusual sound which prompted a swift retreat.
Illustrious Alumni
The school’s alumni include Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, former Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, Union minister Maneka Gandhi, business honcho Ness Wadia, and actors Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan and Pooja Bedi.
“The Lawrence School taught me discipline and punctuality, qualities that have stood me in good stead in my political life,” says Abdullah.
Badal, who passed out from the school in 1979, vividly remembers the then deputy headmaster, Bhupinder Singh. “The very sight of him used to give me the chills. Now I realise I owe whatever I am today to the discipline inculcated in students at Sanawar.” He recalls being two years junior to Sanjay Dutt, who was famous in school as the son of actor Sunil Dutt.
Singha also remembers the deputy headmaster with deference, “One slap from him would shake a person up and if you tried to shield your face you would get a barrage.” He fondly recalls the long hikes taken to as far as Ropar and sneaking out at night to conduct bhutta raids in neighbouring fields. He says, “The schools motto, never give up, and my house slogan, fight a good fight, have always stayed with me and enabled me to fight for my ideology and for the poor of my state.”
Though Sanawar fondly remembers Amarinder as its alumnus who was enrolled at the age of eight, the Punjab CM admits he doesn’t remem ber much of his time at school as he attended it for a brief spell of three years.
Math teacher Rajesh Puri, who taught at Sanawar for 30 years, says, “Abdullah and Wadia were nice boys. They were also good at studies and extracurricular activities.” He, however, fondly remembers Badal as being naughty. “He had a lot of chutzpah at that age too. He would directly come to my house if he didn’t like something I said,” he says, laughing out loud.
Himalaya house mistress Neelam Tahlan remembers the grit and determination of the present queen of Bhutan, Jetsun Pema. “She was a sensible and mature girl. She was good at sports. While she was at school, all inter-house matches were won by Himalaya house. Once during the founder’s day celebrations, she fell right before the traditional tattoo dance. She was bleeding but chose to participate regardless. Later, the wound had to be stitched up.”
Sporting rivalry
Sanawar’s sports rivalry with the all-boys boarding Bishop Cotton School predates the legendary Ashes Cup. Be it soccer, cricket or basketball, the schools have fought it out to come out tops. Badal says, “The rivalry between Sanawar and BCS was not unlike the rivalry between India and Pakistan. The excitement and euphoria that enveloped the school at any upcoming match between the schools was palpable.”
Headmaster Pande says, “In 1990, our school had gone for a soccer tournament to BCS. It was pouring cats and dogs on the day of the match but that did not dampen the players’ enthusiasm. Special boots were arranged for our team and the match went on with the referee standing with an umbrella.”