The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, district and is governed by the Dehr ...

, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

, who prevised a school modelled on the British public school while remaining conscious of Indian ambitions and desires. The school admitted its first pupils on 10 September 1935, and formally opened on 27 October 1935, with Lord Willingdon presiding over the ceremony. The school's first headmaster was Arthur E. Foot, an English educationalist who had spent nine years as a science master at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

, England. The school houses roughly 500 pupils aged 12 to 18, and admission is based on a competitive entrance examination and an interview with the headmaster. Every year boys are admitted in only two-year groups:

seventh grade Seventh grade (or grade seven) is a year or level of education. The seventh grade is the eighth school year, the second or third year of middle school, and the first year of junior high school. Students are around 13-14 years old in this stage of ...

in January and

eighth grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

in April. As of May 2019, boys from 26 Indian states as well as 35

non-resident Indians Overseas Indians (IAST: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, ''Non-Resident Indians'' are citizens of Indi ...

and foreign nationals were studying at Doon. The school is fully residential, and boys and most teachers live on campus. In tenth grade, students take the Cambridge IGCSE examinations, and for the final two years can choose between the

Indian School Certificate The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board designed to provide an examination in a course of general education, in accordance wi ...

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

. A broad range of extra-curricular activities, numbering around 80, are offered to the boys, and early masters such as

R.L. Holdsworth Romilly Lisle Holdsworth, commonly known as R. L. Holdsworth, (25 February 1899 – 20 June 1976) was an English scholar, academic, educationalist, cricketer and a distinguished Himalayan mountaineer. He was a member of the first expedition ...

J.A.K. Martyn John A. K. Martyn OBE (more commonly known as J. A. K. Martyn) (1903–1984), was an English schoolmaster, scholar, academic and a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer. He was the second headmaster of The Doon School. Career In 1935, John ...

Jack Gibson Jack Gibson may refer to: * Jack Gibson (rugby league) (1929–2008), Australian player and coach * Jack Stanley Gibson (1909–2005), Irish physician * Jack Gibson (ice hockey, born 1880) (1880–1955), ice hockey player and executive * Jack Gibs ...

and

Gurdial Singh Gurdial Singh Rahi (''Gurdi'āl Sigh''; 10 January 1933 – 16 August 2016) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, "Bhaganwale." He became known as a novelist when he p ...

established a strong tradition of mountaineering at school. The school occupies the former site of the Forest Research Institute and is home to diverse flora and fauna. Doon remains a boys-only school despite continued pressure from political leaders to become

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

. Old boys of the school are known as ' Doscos'. Doon has been consistently ranked as the best all-boys residential school in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Although the school has often been cited as 'Eton of India' by media outlets such as the BBC, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', and ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', it eschews the label. Doon often draws attention, and sometimes criticism, from the media for the perceived disproportionate influence of its alumni in spheres such as Indian politics, business, or culture. In the 1980s, Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

's administration was criticised, and labelled "Doon Cabinet", following the appointment of his school acquaintances to major posts. The school has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including politicians, diplomats, artists, writers and businesspeople. Among the former pupils of Doon are the late Indian Prime Minister

, his son Rahul Gandhi, artist Anish Kapoor, authors Vikram Seth,

Ramchandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history, and the field of economic ...

and

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

, fashion designer

Tarun Tahiliani Tarun Tahiliani is a noted Indian fashion designer. With his wife Sailaja 'Sal' Tahiliani, he co-founded Ensemble, India’s first multi-designer boutique in 1987, followed by Tahiliani Design studio in 1990. Based in Delhi, he is best known for ...

, mountaineer

Nandu Jayal Nandu may refer to: Places * Chengdu, a city in Sichuan, China, known as (''Southern Capital'' or ''Nandu'') during the early Tang dynasty * Jiangling County, a city in Hubei, China, formerly known as (''Southern Capital'' or ''Nandu'') during th ...

, Olympic gold medalist

Abhinav Bindra Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman.Bunker Roy Sanjit "Bunker" Roy (born 30 June 1945) is an Indian social activist and educator who founded the Barefoot College. He was selected as one of Time 100's 100 most influential personalities in 2010 for his work in educating illiterate and sem ...

and

Lalit Pande Lalit Pande is an Indian social worker, environmentalist and the founder of Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Environmental Education Centre, a non governmental organization promoting environmental education in the hilly areas of the Indian state of Uttarak ...

History

Origins

The Doon School main building (then FRI) - 1917

Frank Noyce, Lord Willingdon, Arthur Foot at the opening of The Doon School, India, 1935

Doon was the culmination of some considerable lobbying and efforts by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta and

advocate-general of Bengal The Advocate-General of Bengal was charged with advising the Government of the British administered Bengal Presidency on legal matters. The Presidency existed from 1765 to 1947. Prior to 1858, when it was administered by the East India Company, ...

, who in 1927 became a member of the

Viceroy's Executive Council The Viceroy's Executive Council was the cabinet of the government of British India headed by the Viceroy of India. It is also known as the Council of the Governor-General of India. It was transformed from an advisory council into a cabinet consistin ...

Lord Irwin Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

. He envisioned a new kind of Indian public school that was modelled on traditional British public schools, but was "distinctively Indian in their moral and spiritual outlook and open to all castes and communities". While

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

welcomed the idea of such a school, there were many, like

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, who were opposed to it, considering it inegalitarian. Das travelled widely in

with the goal of collecting 4 million, but at the time of his death in 1928 had raised only 1 million in cash and a further 1 million in promises. With the money, Das formed the Indian Public Schools' Society (IPSS), with the objective of founding new public schools in

that would admit students regardless of caste, creed or social status. After Das's death in 1928, the IPSS accomplished little, and by 1934 some of the original lenders had begun to inquire about the return of their money. To solve this problem, Sir Joseph Bhore, then Railway Minister of Lord Willingdon's Council, became IPSS chairman, and along with Sir Frank Noyce and Sir Akbar Hydari as secretary, worked to obtain the former estate of the Forest Research Institute, in

, from the government on favourable terms.

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...

, then President of the British Board of Education, led a selection committee that nominated Arthur E. Foot, a science teacher at

, to be the first headmaster. The school admitted its first pupils on 10 September 1935, and on 27 October 1935, the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

, Lord Willingdon, presided over the formal opening of the school. Seventy boys enrolled in the first term, and 110 more signed up for the second.

Early years: 1935–1970

Foot had never visited

before accepting the position of headmaster. He noted that the school appeared to be surrounded by forests and close to mountains, and the possibilities of outdoor recreation and mountaineering seem to have influenced his decision as much as the chance to create a completely new type of school in

. Foot's first action upon being offered the position was to recruit J.A.K. (John) Martyn from

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

as his deputy. Although Martyn had not visited India before, he took up the offer because of the opportunity it afforded him to implement the ideas of German educator Kurt Hahn at Doon; it was something he had not been able to do at Harrow. Doon's ethos and guiding principles were determined early in its life by Foot, Martyn,

and

, who went on to become principal of

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest pu ...

, and Martyn acknowledged the influence of Hahn's ideas in the development of the school's ethos. They were soon joined in their efforts by Indians such as the artist

Sudhir Khastgir Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir (24 September 1907 – 6 June 1974) was an Indian painter of Bengal school of art and an art educator. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, Sudhir was known for "Indian style" of painting. He graduated from ...

(the school's first art teacher, who had trained previously in

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by hi ...

) and

, a noted mountaineer who taught at Doon for several decades. In an essay entitled ''The Objects of Education'' published in the school magazine, Foot offered a template for a complete education for boys, which included teaching them to form a habit of choosing good over evil, think logically, express their thoughts and views clearly, and maintain a healthy body. At the opening of the school, he said, "Our boys should leave The Doon School as members of an aristocracy, but it must be an aristocracy of service inspired by the ideals of unselfishness, not one of privilege, wealth or position". The annual school fees in 1935 was 1,375, and by September 1946, it had risen to 1,800. The

per-capita income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

of India, then largely an agricultural society, in 1947 has been recorded as 252. In 1947, there were around 300 boys studying at Doon, out of which 50-60 were

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 15-20

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The ter ...

, 15-20

Parsees Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

, 6-7 Christians, and the remaining two-thirds Hindu. The first cohort of students left school in 1938, and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, about 65 Doon students served in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

. In 1948, Foot returned to England for "family reasons", and John Martyn became the second headmaster. After the Indian Independence, Martyn's friends suggested it would be a mistake to stay on in India, but he later wrote: "They could not have been more wrong. I have found my life much pleasanter than before...although no one had previously ever done or said anything to make me feel at all unwelcome, from now on it was often made quite explicit that I was very welcome." While Foot and Martyn were determined to model Doon on Eton and Harrow, they both agreed that Doon should cater primarily for Indian boys—and not the sons of British expatriates—in order to create a uniquely Indian public school rather than a transplanted British institution. Foot did not want Doon to be considered elitist. In a paper surveying the new school, presented to the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, London in 1947, Foot wrote: "In language we have never intended to base our instruction on the Classics in the way that Latin is still the centre pin of the English Public School. The great majority of boys take Urdu or Hindi." Martyn retired as headmaster in 1966 and became a managing trustee of Indian Cheshire Homes.

Middle years: 1970–2000

The school's first Indian headmaster was

Eric Simeon Eric Joseph Simeon (1918–2007), was an Indian school educationalist. He was the headmaster of some of the distinguished schools of India from 1960s to the mid-1980s. He served as the headmaster of La Martiniere Calcutta, The Doon School and C ...

, appointed in 1970. He came from a military background and laid great emphasis on disciplined living. Simeon's tenure of nine years was marked with financial difficulties for the school and the estate suffered, as the funds were not enough to maintain buildings and facilities. In 1971, Simeon introduced the 'Scholar's Blazer', an academic equivalent of the pre-existing prize 'Games Blazer', so that boys accorded academic excellence the same level of prestige as they did sporting achievements. In 1979,

Gulab Ramchandani Gulab Ramchandani (born 24 December 1927 - 13 April 2017) was an Indian educator. He served as the headmaster of The Doon School from 1979 till 1988. He is credited with bringing about several notable educational reforms in the Indian education s ...

became the first alumnus to be appointed headmaster, and during his term the school regained financial stability. In 1988,

Shomie Das Shomie Ranjan Das (born 28 August 1935) is an Indian educationist. An alumnus of The Doon School, he has served as the headmaster of the three most top schools of India, namely The Doon School, Mayo College and Lawrence School, Sanawar. He had ...

, another alumnus and the grandson of school founder Satish Ranjan Das, became headmaster. Das's focus was on upgrading the school infrastructure, and during his time the Oberoi house was added to the original four houses. The next headmaster, John Mason, appointed in 1996, planned on making Doon more affordable to school pupils. The school did not raise its fees while Mason was in office.

Criticism of Rajiv Gandhi administration

In the 1980s, the then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, an alumnus, drew criticism from the media for appointing many old boys to his administration. His inner circle was labelled a "Doon Cabinet" or "Dosco Mafia", and ''Washington Post'' reported, "The catch phrase around Delhi these days is that the 'Doon School runs India,' but that is too simple an analysis for a complex, chaotic country with so many competing spheres of influence." Gandhi's reliance on Doon alumni for political advice later led Prime Minister

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...

to remark, "If I had anything to do with this place, I'd close it down". Although any alumnus seldom held public office for some time afterwards, this changed with the political ascendance of

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia (born 1 January 1971) is an Indian politician who serves as the Minister of Civil Aviation, a position his father also held from 1991 to 1993. He also heads the Ministry of Steel. He is a Member of Parliament i ...

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

, and Rahul Gandhi.

Recent years: 2000–present

Kanti Bajpai Kanti Prasad Bajpai (born 1955) is an Indian academic, international affairs analyst, and the former headmaster of The Doon School, Dehradun, India. He is known to be an expert on Indo-China relations. He is currently a professor at National Un ...

was the third old boy, after Gulab Ramchandani and Shomie Das, to become headmaster, when appointed to the post in 2003. He introduced numerous punishments, notably "yellow cards" (informally known as 'YCs'), to control an outburst of bullying at Doon. In 2006, Bajpai found himself embroiled in a controversy when the parents of Hindu and Sikh students complained on discovering that the school's dining hall only serves

halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with '' haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification k ...

meat. The fact came to light after a visiting Pakistani delegation was assured of their meal's halal status. Despite mounting pressure, the school's board of governors appealed for maintaining the status quo. As of 2016, the school was serving both halal and non-halal (''

jhatka Jhatka, or Jhataka or chatka (' ), is the meat from an animal killed instantly, such as by a single strike of a sword or axe to sever the head within the Sikh religion. This type of slaughter is preferred by most Rajput in Hinduism Sikhs as well ...

'') meat varieties in the dining hall. In 2009,

Peter McLaughlin Peter McLaughlin (born 1956) is an Irish academic, historian, and educator. He is the CEO of Max Learning Limited, the educational arm of the Max Group. He was Headmaster of The Doon School. Before joining Doon in 2009, he served as Headmaster ...

, an Irish academic, was chosen to lead the school, becoming the first non-Indian headmaster in almost four decades.

2010 Founder's Day celebrations and film controversy

Doon School 75th Founder's Day - DS75, 2010

Founder's Day is a three-four day event in the autumn term, usually October, that marks the school's founding and draws many ex-pupils from all parts of the world. The chief guest is usually a prominent person, and the events include exhibitions, productions of plays, yoga sessions, live bands, a fete and an orchestral concert given by members of the school's Music Society. Doon celebrated its 75th Founder's Day in 2010 and programmed events on an unprecedented scale. The event was christened ''DS-75''. Among the chief guests were the then President of India

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan, and

Kapil Sibal Kapil Sibal (born 8 August 1948) is an Indian lawyer and politician. Sibal has represented several high-profile cases in the Supreme Court of India and is widely regarded as one of the famous lawyers of India. He is a Member of Parliament, in Ra ...

, then minister of Human Resource Development). Pratibha Patil, in her address, urged the school authorities to make Doon a co-educational institution. One of the main events was a discussion, dubbed the "Chandbagh Debate", held between alumni including Vikram Seth,

Kamal Nath Kamal Nath (born 18 November 1946) is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for approximately 15 months and resigned after a political crisis. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legi ...

Manpreet Singh Badal Manpreet Singh Badal (born 26 July 1962) is an Indian politician and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the former Finance Minister of Punjab. He resigned from Indian National Congress on 18th January,2023 & joined BJP same day. He ha ...

and retired headmaster Kanti Bajpai, on the topic ''Can India lead?''. It was moderated by television commentator

Karan Thapar Karan Thapar (born 5 November 1955) is an Indian journalist, news presenter and interviewer working with The Wire. Thapar was associated with CNN-IBN and hosted ''The Devil's Advocate'' and ''The Last Word''. He was also associated with India T ...

, an alumnus of the school. Ashvin Kumar, an alumnus and Oscar-nominated director, made the film '' Dazed in Doon'' for the celebrations, using pupils for the cast and crew. Most of it was shot in June and July during the summer break, and those scenes which required the entire student body were filmed after the school reopened in August. It was screened on the final day of celebrations to a gathering of over 2000 people, including guests, students, parents and alumni. The day after screening, the school objected to the film and its distribution, labelling the bullying scenes "defamatory", and obtained a court order to delay its release. The DVD sales on campus were immediately halted. The dispute remains unresolved between the director and school authorities. On 22 October 2010, a commemorative postage stamp depicting the school's main building was released by the Indian Postal Service to mark the occasion of the 75th Founder's Day. Detail of The Doon School Main Gate

Present day

In June 2016, the school announced the appointment of Matthew Raggett, principal of the Leipzig International School's secondary department, to succeed Peter McLaughlin as headmaster. Until the start of McLaughlin's headmastership, the student demographic was dominated by boys hailing from the North Indian states. To make the school more diverse, Raggett continued McLaughlin's outreach initiative of inviting more applications from boys in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

n states. The school was the subject of a 2018

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary series called '' Indian Summer School'', which was based on a social experiment to see if five under-performing British boys would thrive in Doon. In January 2020, Matthew Raggett stepped down as the tenth headmaster citing personal reasons. In March 2020, the school was shut down for the first time since its founding in 1935, and boys were sent home due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and the Indian lockdown. Online classes are being conducted for students through video conferencing apps. Jagpreet Singh was appointed the eleventh headmaster of Doon in April 2020; he is a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Un ...

, UK.

Governance and organisation

The school is owned by the

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

entity Indian Public Schools' Society (IPSS), which was registered by S.R. Das in 1928 with the aim of establishing public schools in India. Under the IPSS, the Board of Governors supervises all matters of Doon. The current board comprises thirteen members and is chaired by Anoop Bishnoi, an alumnus. The president of The Doon School Old Boys' Society has a seat on the board to represent the views and interests of the alumni. At the intramural level, the School Council, comprising the headmaster, heads of department, staff and student representatives from each house, is responsible for legislating and discussing school policies. Every house holds a vote to send four student representatives to the council. Each house is run by a housemaster or a housemistress, along with a house captain and a team of prefects. The housemistress is assisted by a matron known as "The Dame", who provides

pastoral care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from re ...

for pupils, some of whom take several weeks to adjust fully to life in a boarding school, particularly given Doon's monastic lifestyle and strict routine. The homes of housemasters and housemistresses are adjacent or physically attached to their houses to enable close supervision and support. One senior boy serves as

school captain A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

, chosen by teachers and students at the start of the year by voting in a

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vo ...

Houses

Doon follows the

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

; there are five main houses (Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kashmir, Tata and Oberoi) and two 'holding houses' (Foot and Martyn, named after former headmasters), for boys in their first year. The original four houses (Oberoi was added in 1991) were named after the largest initial donors: Hyderabad House was named after

Akbar Hydari :''To be distinguished from his son who was the Governor of Assam, Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari.'' Sir Muhammad Akbar Nazar Ali Hydari, ''Sadr ul-Maham'', PC (8 November 1869 – November 1941) was an Indian politician. He served as the Prime M ...

, who secured a contribution from

Nizam of Hyderabad The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

's government; Kashmir, after Maharajah

Hari Singh Maharaja Sir Hari Singh (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, following his uncle's death, Singh became ...

, then ruler of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

; Tata, after the Tata Trusts; and Jaipur, after

Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many te ...

Amarnath Atal arranged for contributions from the

Durbar Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

. Boys are assigned to houses at the time of admission and develop great loyalty to them, since all intramural sports involve fierce competition between houses. Those who have a family history with a particular house are assigned to the same house. All houses have rooms, dormitories, kitchen, library, study rooms, and a Common Room for recreation.

Admission, fees and financial aid

The school receives about 540 applications every year and admits 80 students in

and 14 in

, although these numbers have varied over time. Once admission is secured, after passing the entrance examination and interview, a student may apply for around 30 scholarships or bursaries. Some are reserved for boys proficient in sports or arts, and others for those from particular regions or the children of

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

personnel. As of August 2022, the annual school fees for Indian students was 11,20,000, and 14,00,000 for foreign nationals or

. The monetary value of financial aid ranges from fifty per cent of the tuition fee to being fully funded. Amidst criticism from parents over rising fees, the last headmaster, Matthew Raggett, has stated that over 25% of Doon's students receive needs-based bursaries, and the school is working towards a completely needs-blind admission policy.

Campus

Main Field at The Doon School, Dehradun, India

The school is spread across a single campus covering approximately flanked by Chakrata Road and Mall Road in the

Dehradun Cantonment Dehradun Cantonment is a cantonment town in Dehradun district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It was established in 1913. Demographics India census, Dehradun Cantonment had a population of 30,102. Males constitute 52% of the population an ...

area of Dehradun city,

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

, India. To house the school, the IPSS acquired the Chandbagh Estate in Dehradun from the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department on a 100-year lease of one rupee per year. This lease continues to date, having been since transferred to the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by th ...

overseeing the

. Part of the estate was once a deer park. The IPSS also acquired an adjoining estate, now known as Skinner's Field, from the descendants of James Skinner. The buildings on campus include the Main Building, which houses offices and classrooms, structures for sports facilities, science blocks, music school, library, arts and media centre, auditorium, amphitheatre, dining hall, wellness centre, recycling and waste-treatment plants, and masters' residences.

Architecture

The construction of the Main Building, then in FRI, was carried out by Imperial Public Works Department, and finished in 1911. Its Renaissance-style architecture was inspired by Basilica Palladiana in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

, Italy. Many buildings on the campus have been designed by notable Indian architects or firms. The library was designed by Romi Khosla, the Biology block by Ram Sharma, teachers' residences by Anagram Architects, and the new Arts and Media Centre, which was inaugurated in October 2010 and shortlisted for the 2010 World Architecture News Education Award, by alumnus Sandeep Khosla The Arts and Media Centre houses painting, ceramic, sculpture, and textile studios, along with a lecture hall, film and photography studio, publications' room and exhibition galleries. In 2016, the school's Main Building received the "Honourable Mention" under the

UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards (since 2000) are given with as the strategic purpose of UNESCO with in the region Asia Pacific. The objective is to motivate the protection of Cultural Heritage sites, which are initiated by any individual organ ...

, following the conservation work carried out by Aishwarya Tipnis Architects on the more than a century-old building.

Natural environment

The school estate, known as Chandbagh (Urdu for "garden of the moon"), lies in the green zone of the city and occupies the former site of the Imperial Forest Research Institute, now Forest Research Institute. Before the school's opening, the site had been the centre of forestry in India for three decades, and, today, a wide variety of

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...

are found on campus, including many rare trees that date back to the days of the FRI. The school has over 150 species of trees on its campus, and the formal gardens attract a variety of birds. The school is listed as a hotspot on the eBird database of Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and 130 bird species had been identified on the campus as of June 2021. In the 1940-50s, ornithologist Salim Ali, who was a friend of Foot, Gibson and Martyn, was a regular visitor to the school; he sensitized generations of pupils to the natural diversity of the school campus, and introduced them to many aspects of ornithology. In 1996, a book titled ''Trees of Chandbagh'' was released which provided a comprehensive account of vegetation found on Doon's campus. Along similar lines, the illustrated book ''Birds of Chandbagh: A Guide To Birding at The Doon School'' was released in 2019, featuring photographs, illustrations and QR codes documenting the bird calls of the species found on campus. The school has devised an Architectural and Projects Committee, which ensures that any construction taking place on campus is done without disturbing the ecological balance of the wooded school grounds.

Curriculum

The school practices a five-and-a-half-day week consisting of 40 periods (or "schools"), each of 40 minutes. The school day begins with boys having chhota haazri before doing calisthenics outdoors on the playing fields, which is then followed by classes. On Sundays, boys are free to pursue any activity or sport. Senior boys may go into the town for leisure on designated Sundays, after taking permission from the housemaster of their respective houses. The student-teacher ratio at the school is 10:1. Doon pupils take the

International General Certificate of Secondary Education The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainm ...

(IGCSE) exams in tenth grade, which replaced

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private board designed to provide an examination in a course of general education, in accordance wi ...

in 2017, and are thereafter offered two strands for the final two years:

(IB) or

(ISC). The academic year has three terms: spring, summer and autumn. The autumn term runs from August to the year-end final examinations in November, after which the boys are promoted to the new class in February. Each term has a "test week" and end-of-term examinations known as "trials". Boys are able to visit teachers, most of whom live on campus, for further academic help. Additionally, each boy is assigned a 'Tutor' – a School Master affiliated with their boarding house – who is responsible for their pastoral welfare and may coordinate academic help when requested. Subjects on offer include geography, political science, history, economics, accountancy, commerce, environmental studies, art and design, psychology, music, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and

STEM subjects Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context o ...

. Doon's foreign language offerings include French, German and Spanish. The school's Careers Information, Education and Guidance Department has offered pupils guidance on career paths, college applications, entrance exams and standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. In recent years, boys have increasingly chosen foreign universities over Indian colleges, sometimes due to the hyper-competitiveness of the Indian higher education system that calls for extremely high school-leaving scores for admissions.

Traditions

The early headmasters and teachers at Doon came from traditional British public schools, and the jargon introduced by them is still in use. For example, the weekly masters' meeting, started by Foot, is called ''Chambers'', a term taken from Eton, and evening "prep" (the boarding-school equivalent of homework) is called ''toye-time'', a term taken from

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

. The school songs were deliberately chosen to include both

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghal ...

and Hindu

bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam ( Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

s as a way of emphasising Doon's secular ethos; similarly, the school prayers include a mix of Anglican hymns and Indian poetry representing different geo-linguistic regions of the country. Attendance at the morning assembly is required of all pupils and teachers. It traditionally begins with a song from the school's song book, which contains poetry, hymns and

bhajans Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam ( Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

, including ''

Jana Gana Mana "" (Sanskrit: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as '' Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata'' in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. The first stanza of the song ''Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata ...

'' by

, ''Chisti Ne Jis Zamin Mein'' by

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

, ''Anand Loke'' by

, ''

Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua "Lab Pe Aati Hai Dua" ( ur, لب پہ آتی ہے دعا ; also known as "Bachche Ki Dua"), is a '' duʿā'' or prayer, in Urdu verse authored by Muhammad Iqbal in 1902. The dua is recited in morning school assembly almost universally in Pakistan, ...

'' by Muhammad Iqbal, ''Ghungat Ke Pat Khol Re'' (attributed to Meerabai), ''

Vande Mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in th ...

'' (from a poem by

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist. Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 201 ...

). Although ''

'' is India's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

, it is traditionally referred to as "Song No. 1" at Doon since it was adopted as the school song in 1935, fifteen years before it became India's national anthem. Social work, known formally as "Socially Useful Productive Work" (SUPW), is also part of school life. All boys of the school must complete a mandatory quota of social service hours every term, which is also required by both curricula offered at the school (the International Baccalaureate referring to this as Creativity, Activity and Service or 'CAS'). Though, previously, students that didn't complete their hours of work were required to stay back at school over the holidays for a brief period, this has been relaxed in recent years. Doon also oversees a Panchayat Ghar (or 'village house') teaching impoverished children, and many building projects and workshops for the local community. Pupils and alumni have frequently helped local villages of organised efforts across India to assist people affected by natural disasters. During the 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake, the school's amateur radio club was used by the government for communication purposes.

Extracurricular activities

Sports

Sports are compulsory for pupils. The school has over of playing fields, the largest of which are Skinner's Field and the Main Field. Cricket and hockey dominate the sports calendar in spring term, while football, athletics and boxing are played in autumn term. Other sports such as tennis, table tennis, badminton, squash, basketball, swimming and gymnastics are played all-year round. Inter-house matches are played in cricket, hockey, football, boxing and basketball. Sports facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool, a boxing ring and a multi-purpose hall with a gymnasium, yoga studio, and facilities for indoor badminton, basketball and table tennis. There are two

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...

cricket pitches, five basketball courts, four tennis courts, four squash courts, eight cricket nets, seven fields for hockey and football (which can be converted to four cricket pitches to accommodate seasonal sports), a modern cricket pavilion and two 400-metre athletics tracks. In 2014, the school inaugurated a shooting range on campus. Golf is offered to boys in partnership with local golf courses. Doon hosts the annual Afzal Khan Memorial Basketball Tournament, an inter-school tournament that draws all major school basketball teams of India. Boys visit other schools and academies from time to time to take part in various tournaments. For skill improvement, the school often invites professional sports bodies to hold training camps, which are usually open to students from across India. In 2013, a football coaching camp was held in association with Barça Academy, the official training school of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

, and in January 2015, coaches from the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

held a week-long cricket training camp on the school grounds.

Clubs and societies

Extracurricular activities are also a compulsory element of school life. There are around 70-80 clubs and societies, including astronomy, business,

The Doon School Model United Nations The Doon School Model United Nations (DSMUN) is an annual model United Nations conference run by The Doon School, an all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, India. Founded in 2007, it is one of India's largest MUNs in terms of number of delegates a ...

, quiz, photography and film,

aeromodelling A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models. Aircraft manufactur ...

, robotics, paper recycling, weather reporting, pottery, carpentry,

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency commu ...

(school

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally ass ...

: VU2CHC) and birdwatching, among others. In many societies pupils come together to discuss a particular topic, presided over by a schoolmaster and often including a guest speaker. The school has often invited prominent figures to give speeches and talks to the students; these have included heads of state, politicians, ornithologists, naturalists, artists, writers, economists, diplomats and industrialists. Boys can write for, or join the editorial board of, a number of school magazines that are published in English or Hindi. '' The Doon School Weekly'', established in 1936, is the oldest publication and the official school newspaper. Distributed every Saturday morning, and edited by pupils, it chronicles school activities and is a platform for creative, political or humorous writing. The publication aims to represent the views of the school community as well as Old Boys, and include satire and criticism of school policies. More subversive publications, critical of teachers and the school establishment, have occasionally been produced without official sponsorship. Other magazines include ''The Yearbook'', a heavily illustrated publication for recording all highlights of the school year, and ''The Doon School Information Review'' for cultural criticism. Specialist publications by academic departments include ''Vibgyor'' (Art), ''Echo'' (Science), ''The Econocrat'' (Economics), ''Infinity'' (Mathematics), ''Grand Slam'' (Sports) and ''The Circle'' (History and Political Science).

Mountaineering

Halfway through each term, the boys go on a one-week "midterm", an expedition through the Siwalik Hills or

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. Senior boys make treks of up to five days, unaccompanied by teachers, camping out in tents and cooking their own food. The trips are planned by students themselves. Alumni have recalled these midterms as formative and character-building experiences. Doon has been credited with pioneering mountaineering in India, due to the accomplishments of masters such as

and

, and alumni like

, who later became the founder principal of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. Notable climbs by staff and alumni include Bandarpunch (6,316 m) in 1950, Kala Nag (6,387 m) in 1956,

Trisul Trisul is a group of three Himalayan mountain peaks of western Kumaun, Uttarakhand, with the highest (Trisul I) reaching 7120m. The three peaks resemble a trident - in Sanskrit, Trishula, trident, is the weapon of Shiva. The Trishul gr ...

(7,120 m) in 1951,

Kamet Kamet ( hi, कामेत) is the second highest mountain in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India, after Nanda Devi. It lies in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. Its appearance resembles a giant pyramid topped by a flat summit area w ...

(7,756 m) in 1955, Abi Gamin (7,355 m) in 1953 and 1955, Mrigthuni (6,855 m) in 1958 and Jaonli (6,632 metres) in 1964. Some of these expeditions have been noted for their idiosyncrasies. After Gurdial Singh led a successful climb of Trisul, he performed a headstand

asana An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...

on the summit as a tribute to the Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

, who is said to abide there. Holdsworth smoked a pipe on reaching the summit of

(7,756 m), during its first ascent in 1931. Two Doon pupils climbed the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

in 1951 wearing cricket boots.

Theatre and music

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

known as the Rose Bowl was built largely by pupils and masters in two years during the 1930s and underwent a major structural change in 2009. It can seat up to 2,000 people and has been the setting for numerous plays as well as musical performances and speeches during school ceremonies such as Founder's Day. The Multi-Purpose Hall is a more modern indoor theatre that can accommodate approximately 2,000 people. Plays are regularly staged in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, with 8–9 productions each year including 2 major productions, which usually have a larger cast and budget, as part of the Founder's Day celebrations. The Inter House Once-Act Play competition is held each year, alternatively in English and Hindi. The

stage design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trai ...

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

, stage lighting, and much of the set construction are the responsibility of the pupils. In 2001, a new music school was built beside the Rose Bowl. It houses a

music library A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in ...

, a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that ma ...

and several practice and teaching rooms where students learn various western and Indian instruments. Pupils of the school have an option to appear for the

Trinity Guildhall Trinity College London (TCL) is an examination board based in London, United Kingdom, which offers graded and diploma qualifications (up to postgraduate level) across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and English language learning and ...

music examinations, conducted by Trinity College London, in

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, drums and classical guitar. In 2002, the school choir raised 2 million for victims of the

2001 Gujarat earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day, at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat ...

by organising a charity concert with the title ''Concerto 2000'', in which drummer Sivamani also took part. To commemorate its 75th Founder's Day in 2010, the school launched a music album, called ''Spirit of Doon'' in collaboration with EMI. The tracks were written by the lyricist Gulzar and were sung by the school choir,

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema and Kannada Cinema. He has been honoured by the Governme ...

, Shayan Italia and

Bhajan Sopori Pandit Bhajan Sopori (22 June 1948 – 2 June 2022) was an Indian instrumentalist. He was a player of the santoor, an ancient stringed musical instrument. Early life and family Sopori was born in Srinagar to Shambhu Nath Sopori on 22 June ...

Affiliations and partnerships

From its foundation in 1937 until the early 1980s, Welham Boys' School was a feeder school for Doon School and Mayo College. This ended when Surendra Kandhari, an old boy and former housemaster at Doon, became principal of Welham and transformed it into a high school. Families who send their sons to Doon often send their daughters to Welham Girls' School, and many Doon alumni have married alumnae of Welham. The two schools hold an annual "dance social", and their alumni sometimes collaborate in organising events. Pakistani ex-pupils from Doon established the

Chand Bagh School Chand Bagh School is an independent boarding school for boys at Muridke in Sheikhupura District, Punjab, Pakistan, approximately 40 km north of Lahore. The school opened in September 1998, having been conceived as a Pakistani version of The ...

40 km north of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

, Pakistan, in 1998, modelling it on the general structure of Doon. Doon also has exchange programmes with a number of overseas schools, such as Eton College, Harrow School, St. Albans School, Washington DC,

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding sch ...

, Schule Schloss Salem, The Armidale School, Bridge House School,

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

, King's Academy,

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmast ...

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

, The Hutchins School and St. Mark's School (Texas). In 2011 Doon twinned with

The Thomas Hardye School The Thomas Hardye School is a secondary academy school in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It is also part of the DASP group. History Grammar school The school is named after Thomas Hardye of Melcombe Regis and later Frampton. Hardye was a pr ...

, Dorchester,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, through a cultural exchange project organised by the BBC and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in light of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

held in the UK. The Doon School is a member of the following organisations: G20 Schools, Round Square,

, International Boys' Schools Coalition,

Indian Public Schools' Conference Indian Public Schools Conference was established in 1939. The Indian Public Schools are an independent and private institutions of secondary education. Top notch boarding and day-cum boarding and the Sainik and Military Schools form part of this sc ...

, Rashtriya Life Saving Society, and

International Award Association The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...

. The school is the regional test centre for University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and SAT Tests.

Schools with similar names

As private schools became more widespread in

, several other schools used "Doon" as part of their names, causing some confusion. Among them are Doon Global School, Doon Presidency School, Doon International School, Doon Preparatory School, Doon Cambridge School, Doon Girls School,

Doon Public School Doon Public School is a co-educational private secondary school, in Paschim Vihar, Delhi, India. The school uses English as the medium for instruction. The school is housed in an imposing red brick structure and is over forty years old. A ...

(in West Delhi, not the Doon Valley) and the Doon College of Spoken English. None of them are related to The Doon School. Former Headmaster Peter McLaughlin had, during his tenure, sought to copyright the school's name and initiate legal proceedings against institutions falsely presenting themselves as connected to the school, but was unsuccessful.

Public image

;Doon in films & television * The film '' Dazed in Doon'', which was commissioned by the school on the occasion of its 75th anniversary and produced by old boy Ashvin Kumar, was banned by the school authorities because it "doesn't give the school a good name". The dispute remains unresolved. * In September 2010,

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside f ...

made a documentary on the Doon School for the ''World Olympic Dreams'' Project. The purpose of the documentary, produced in association with the

, was to show where

Abhinav Bindra Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman.Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

of UK commissioned a 3-part documentary, '' Indian Summer School'', where five working-class boys from the UK were given a chance to study at Doon for a term to see if they would benefit from the experience. The filming began in August 2017, and the programmes were broadcast in March–April 2018. * The 2022 Bollywood sports drama ''

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

'' was filmed at the school, and features its buildings, cricket grounds and pavilion. ;Doon in literature * In

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of ...

's novel '' The Emperor's Ring: The Further Adventures of Feluda'', the character Mahabir attended Doon, and was a member of the "first eleven" school cricket team. * Vikram Seth used his own experiences of being bullied at Doon to model the character of Tapan in ''

A Suitable Boy ''A Suitable Boy'' is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. ''A Suitable Boy'' is set in a newly post-inde ...

''. * In

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

's short-story anthology

East, West ''East, West'' () is a 1994 anthology of short stories by Salman Rushdie. The book is divided into three main sections, entitled "East", "West", and "East, West", each section containing stories from their respective geographical areas (in the "E ...

, the protagonists Zulu and Chekhov are Doscos. * In

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the su ...

's autobiography ''Man of Everest'', he refers to Bandarpunch as "The Doon School mountain" as the mountain was frequented by two Doon School teachers,

and John Martyn. * In

Ruskin Bond Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Anglo-Indian author . His first novel, '' The Room on the Roof'', was published in 1956, and it received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1957. Bond has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and ...

's novella ''Strangers in the Night'' (2000), character Jai Shankar is from Doon. * Penguin's ''The Great Speeches of Modern India'' (2011) included Vikram Seth's 1992 Founder's Day address, which being confessional surprised the school community, and Mani Shankar Aiyar's 2007 speech, which was noted for its wit and humour. * In

Aatish Taseer Aatish Ali Taseer (born 27 November 1980) is a British-American writer and journalist. Early life Taseer was born in London, England, to Pakistani businessman and politician Salman Taseer and Indian journalist Tavleen Singh. His parents had a ...

's 2015 novel ''The Way Things Were'', the character named I.P., an English teacher, attended Doon. ;Doon in research * '' Doon School Chronicles'' is the first of five

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

films, called ''

The Doon School Quintet ''The Doon School Quintet'' is a five-part ethnographic film series made by the American visual anthropologist and documentary filmmaker David MacDougall, between 1997 and 2000, at The Doon School, an elite all-boys boarding school in India. Fo ...

'', made by David MacDougall between 1997 and 2000 about the culture of the school. MacDougall has written of a tendency of some alumni to idealise a ''

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

'' set in the first decade of the school's life, which sometimes makes them resistant to change. * '' Constructing Post-Colonial India: National Character and the Doon School'' by Sanjay Srivastva is a detailed

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

study of the school's culture and how it has influenced India's national character. * ''Poor' Children in 'Rich' Schools'', a 2005 report by the Institute of Social Studies Trust, discusses why the Doon School has no reservations (quotas for specific social groups) in its admissions process. The post quotes an unnamed student who explains, "passing the Doon School entrance exam means that you have proved yourself worthy of the school. Reserving seats for students seems to imply that the school must prove itself worthy of you." * In 1969, Asian Survey (then Asian Review) - an Asian studies

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

- produced a report on The Doon School as a part of their project which documented Indian history after the entry of

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

. * In ''Indian Tales of the Raj'', Zareer Masani studies how Doon School's alumni affected the Indian political scene in the '60s. ;Doon in media * In 2009, Pakistani-American terrorist and

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

operative

David Coleman Headley David Coleman Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani; June 30, 1960) is an American terrorist. He is currently serving a 35-year sentence in the United States after pleading guilty to 12 international terrorism charges. It has been alleged that Headl ...

was arrested by the U.S.

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

for allegedly planning attacks on The Doon School, among other educational institutions in India. Questioning of Headley revealed that the

had planned to either kidnap or take hostage students from prominent families. The revelations resulted in heavy media coverage of the school and enhanced security measures, including armed personnel of the Uttarakhand Police being deployed to guard the school's perimeter for several months. Since then, the school has invested heavily in security measures, including a Local Guard Force and barbed wire along its walls. * The school regularly features in news media coverage, with its Headmaster being a frequent guest on several news talk shows, usually hosted by Old Boys.

Notable people

Alumni

Pupils are known as "Doscos", a contraction of "Doon" and "school". The vast majority of alumni are Indians, but a dwindling number are from Pakistan having studied at Doon before the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

forced them to leave in 1947. Relations between Indian and Pakistani alumni have remained warm over the years, despite the long history of conflict between the two countries. Boys from Bangladesh and Nepal continue to study at Doon. Pupils of Doon have achieved prominence in politics, government service, the armed forces of India and Pakistan, commerce, journalism, the arts and literature. In politics, they include cabinet ministers, chief ministers, several members of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

and state Legislative Assemblies, diplomats, and former heads of the Indian and Pakistani Air Forces. Former Prime Minister

was educated at Doon. Politician Mani Shankar Aiyar, the former Defence Secretary of Pakistan Ghulam Jilani Khan,

and Rahul Gandhi were at school, and

, the Chief Minister of Odisha,

, politician and poet

Karan Singh Karan Singh (born 9 March 1931) is an Indian politician and philosopher. He is the son of the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh. He was the prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir until 1952. From 1 ...

. In the field of literature, Doon alumni include novelists

Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''

, Vikram Seth,

Ardashir Vakil Ardashir "Ardu" Vakil is an Indian-born British author whose first novel, '' Beach Boy'', won the Betty Trask Award in 1997 and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award. His second novel, ''One Day'' was shortlisted for the Encore A ...

, and historian

Ramachandra Guha Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social history, social, political history, political, contemporary history, contemporary, Envir ...

; and in journalism, Prannoy Roy, founder of

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

; Aroon Purie, founder of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...

'',

, Virendra Prabhakar and Vikram Chandra. India's first

Rhodes scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Lovraj Kumar Lovraj Kumar (1926–1994) was an Indian civil servant who had a role in forming Indian economic policies from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. Kumar was born in Nainital in 1926, and attended The Doon School, Dehradun. He became India's fir ...

, was an alumnus.

Abhinav Bindra Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman.Nandu Jayal Nandu may refer to: Places * Chengdu, a city in Sichuan, China, known as (''Southern Capital'' or ''Nandu'') during the early Tang dynasty * Jiangling County, a city in Hubei, China, formerly known as (''Southern Capital'' or ''Nandu'') during th ...

studied at the school. In arts and entertainment, Doon's alumni include Ali Fazal, Roshan Seth,

Himani Shivpuri Himani Bhatt Shivpuri (born 24 October 1960) is an Indian actress known for her character roles in Bollywood films and Hindi soap operas. Her films include '' Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!'' (1994), ''Raja'' (1995), '' Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' (1 ...

, Chandrachur Singh,

Satyadeep Mishra Satyadeep Misra, also known as Satyadeep Mishra, is an Indian actor who has worked in Hindi cinema, television and web series. He made his Bollywood debut with the 2011 film '' No One Killed Jessica''. Education Satyadeep is an alumnus of The ...

, art collector Abhishek Poddar, and illusionist

Neel Madhav Neel Madhav is an Indian television personality, public speaker, actor, author, mentalist, TedX Speaker, illusionist and represents FashionTV International in India. He hosts the travel and magic TV show ''You Got Magic with Neel Madhav''. He ...

. The

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

-winning sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor and artist

Vivan Sundaram Vivan Sundaram (born 28 May 1943) is an Indian contemporary artist. His parents were Kalyan Sundaram, Chairman of Law Commission of India from 1968 to 1971, and Indira Sher-Gil, sister of noted Indian modern artist Amrita Sher-Gil. He is marr ...

also attended Doon. In business, the Doon alumni include

Analjit Singh Analjit Singh (born 11 January 1954) is the founder chairman of Max Group, a conglomerate with interests in life insurance, healthcare, and real estate. He is also the founder of Leeu Collection, an international collection of boutique hotels. ...

of Max Group,

Sunil Kant Munjal Sunil Kant Munjal (born 14 December 1957) is an Indian businessman and the chairman of Hero Enterprise. He is also the founder of India's Serendipity Arts Festival, and is the chairman of the board of governors of The Doon School. He is the yo ...

, chairman of

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it h ...

; Rahul Akerkar, restaurateur and founder of Indigo and Qualia; father and son

Vikram Lal Vikram Lal (born 1942) is an Indian billionaire businessman, the founder and former Chief executive officer, CEO of Eicher Motors, an Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer based in New Delhi, India. He has been a member of the board of directo ...

and

Siddhartha Lal Siddhartha Vikram Lal (born October 1973) is an Indian businessman. He is the son of Vikram Lal, and a former chief executive officer (CEO) and the current managing director (MD) of Eicher Motors, a director of Eicher Goodearth Limited and cha ...

of Eicher Motors; A. Vellayan, chairman of the

Murugappa Group Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900. The Group has 28 businesses including nine companies listed on the NSE and the BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., Cho ...

Ajit Narain Haksar Ajit Narain Haksar (11 January 1925 – 19 May 2005) was the first Indian chairman of ITC Limited and was voted the Chairman Emeritus of the company. He has received the 'Outstanding Industrialist Award' and the 'Udyog Rattan Award.' Early life A ...

, the first Indian chairman of ITC Limited; R.C. Bhargava, chairman of

Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki India Limited, formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited, is an Indian automobile manufacturer, based in New Delhi. It was founded in 1981 and owned by the Government of India until 2003, when it was sold to the Japanese automaker ...

; Ajay S. Shriram, managing director of DCM Shriram group, and

Sharan Pasricha Sharan Pasricha is an Indian born entrepreneur based in London, England. He is most known for founding Ennismore, a global hospitality developer and operator and for the acquisition and growth of The Hoxton and Gleneagles. Ennismore was incl ...

, CEO of Ennismore hospitality developer and founder of

The Hoxton ''The Hoxton'' is a "series of open-house hotels," owned by Ennismore. History ''The Hoxton'' brand was founded in 2006 by Sinclair Beecham, co-founder of Pret A Manger turned hotelier. It launched with ''The Hoxton'', Shoreditch, built on a for ...

and Gleneagles.

Faculty

In the early years, many teachers came from British schools, including Peter Lawrence from Eton College,

from Ripon Grammar School, John A. K. Martyn and

R. L. Holdsworth Romilly Lisle Holdsworth, commonly known as R. L. Holdsworth, (25 February 1899 – 20 June 1976) was an English scholar, academic, educationalist, cricketer and a distinguished Himalayan mountaineer. He was a member of the first expedition ...

from Harrow. The school's first art teacher was the artist

, from Shantiniketan, who joined in 1936 and remained at school for twenty years. Many sculptures and murals on the campus today were created by him. The film director Chetan Anand taught briefly at the school from 1940 to 1944. Mountaineer

joined in 1946 as a geography teacher and led the boys on many expeditions. The cricketer and mathematics teacher,

Sheel Vohra Sheel Vohra (20 May 1936 – 10 October 2010) was an Indian cricketer, mathematician and schoolmaster. He is known for playing in the Ranji Trophy tournament representing the Uttar Pradesh cricket team. Life and career Sheel was born in the ...

, joined in 1959 and became the longest-serving master in school's history when he retired in 1998. The

Fiji-Indian Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India, Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Gir ...

academic

Satendra Nandan Satendra Nandan is an Indian academic, writer, and politician. He is a member of the Institution of Engineers (India), and is also host of some talk shows. Early life Nandan was born in Uttar Pradesh, India. After completing his secondary ed ...

taught history at school in the early 1960s, and the

sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the swe ...

player Ashok Roy headed the music department from 1977 to 1988.

Popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

author and theoretical physicist, Simon Singh, taught science at Doon in 1987 before embarking on his academic and writing career.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Website of the Doon School Old Boys' Society

The Doon School - Gift Store
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doon School Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Round Square schools Private schools in Uttarakhand Boys' schools in India International Baccalaureate schools in India Cambridge schools in India Boarding schools in Uttarakhand Schools in Dehradun Educational institutions established in 1935 1935 establishments in India UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards winners 1935 establishments in British India