Alumni summit observes Sanawar school’s influence

The Sanawar Success Summit 2026, held in Delhi, featured alumni sharing career insights and experiences, emphasizing school lessons on perseverance and discipline.

Sanawar Success Summit 2026 –- alumni session of the Lawrence School in Himachal Pradesh’s Sanawar –- was held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre in Janpath on Saturday. The event was organised by the school’s alumni association, Old Sanawarian Society (OSS).

The panel during the “Charting your own path” discussion. (HT)

The summit saw participation from several noted figures, including the former member of India’s planning commission Arun Maira, chairperson and managing director of the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group Jyotsna Suri, and founder and CEO of Policybazaar, Yashish Dahiya, all alumni of the school.

“This is the first time the summit is being held in Delhi, so it is more accessible for other alumni to join,” said entrepreneur Gaurav Bhagat, an alumnus from the school’s 1994 batch, and one of the organisers of the summit.

Secretary of the department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of education Sanjay Kumar was present as the chief guest at the event. The summit was broadly divided into four main panels: Charting your own path; The long game: building excellence; Enduring foundations, and Designing your future.

The alumni also spoke on how the time span at school helped in shaping their careers. “The school teaches you to show up every day. It teaches you that every morning you must recharge yourself and continue doing what you do,” said Ajai Singh (batch of 1980), former commander-in-chief, Andaman & Nicobar Command.

Other alumni echoed the sentiment, stating that the school’s motto of “never give in” had helped them persevere through their life. “The school imbibes in you the discipline and the drive to keep working, and following your routine. It also teaches you balance, as the school schedule dedicates time to our hobbies as well,” said Surbhi Garg (batch of 2008), Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Government of India.

Speaking on the summit’s importance, the attendees stated that such events were the best methods for younger students to learn. “The exposure of present and young Sanawarians to such an event is important, not only because the school is located in a remote place, but also because they can benefit from and take advantage of our learnings. People coming and sharing lessons, principles, and anecdotes, all these are learning examples for students,” said Vivek Mehra (batch of 1971), director HT Media, DLF, and other companies.

The event ended with a light -hearted discussion between Mehra and Jyotsna Suri, titled “The last bugle call”, referring to the name given to the last bell in the school, marking the end of the day.

Other attendees included Niharika Bhasin, Bollywood costume designer and National Film Award winner; Tarun Batra, Cancer surgeon and associate professor at Banaras Hindu University; Rajeev Ahal, director at Natural Resource Management and Agroecology, GIZ India; Taranjit Sandhu, diplomat and former ambassador of India to the United States and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka; Shaila Brijnath, founder and chairperson of Aasraa Trust; Akshay Dalal, head of regional risk, Compliance and Ethics – Google (Middle East, Turkey and Africa); Gaurav Raina, professor at IIT Madras and research fellow at Cambridge University; and Ruby Garg, director of Indus Group.