The Lawrence School, Sanawar

The Lawrence School, Sanawar is a private boarding school in Himachal Pradesh, India. Located near Kasauli in Shimla Hills, it was established in 1847. Its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious and oldest schools in the world. It is the oldest co-educational boarding school in Asia.

Situated in Solan district, Sanawar is about an hour's drive from Chandigarh. The school, founded by Sir Henry Lawrence and his wife Honoria, is one of the oldest surviving boarding schools.

The school is often referred to as "Sanawar". It is situated at a height of 1,750 metres and spread over an area of 139 acres, heavily forested with pine, deodar and other conifer trees. The school has been ranked among the best residential schools of India. In May 2013 Sanawar created history by becoming the first school in the world to send a team of seven students to climb Mount Everest. The motto of the school is "Never Give In".

Sanawar is affiliated to India's Central Board of Secondary Education. Children are admitted to Sanawar in February each year, at the age of nine and ten years. Class Five (Lower III) is preferred as the entry point. Admission is based on a competitive entrance examination, held the preceding November, followed by a personal interview.

History

In the school's name, "Sanawar" is the name of the hill on which it stands. The nearest railway station is now usually spelt "Sonwara". Sanawar is believed to be the oldest mixed-gender boarding school anywhere in the world.

Henry Lawrence's intent was to provide for the education of the orphans of British soldiers and other poor white children. In 1845 he outlined the creation of a boarding school in the Indian highlands for boys and girls.thumb|upright|Maharaja Gulab Singh, a large contributor to the founding of the school

The school at Sanawar was established as the first such asylum on 15 April 1847, The school was co-educational from its beginning. The site had been chosen by Lawrence, after discussions with William Hodson and others, considering that it was an "ideal location" which "afforded the necessary requisites: isolation, ample space, water, a good altitude, and all not too far from British troops". The construction of the buildings was paid for by Lawrence and other British officers, with a large contribution from Gulab Singh, the first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. In the early days some Anglo-Indian children were admitted, but Lawrence insisted that preference should be given to those of "pure European" parentage, as he considered they were more likely to suffer from the heat of the plains. In 1858 it was renamed the "Lawrence Royal Military School".

However, the then-Governor General, Lord Mountbatten, presided at the centenary celebrations and read out a message from King George VI. In June 1952 the ministry resolved to administer the school through a society created under the Societies Registration Act 1860, subject to a Memorandum of Association and rules and regulations to be approved by the government. These provided that the government Secretaries in the Ministries of Education, Defence, and Finance would serve as ex-officio members of the society, with four other members appointed by the government. The employees of the school, previously government servants, lost that status. The property and other assets of the school, which then had an estimated value of twenty-five lakhs of rupees, were transferred to the society with effect from June 1954.

The school celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1997,

Present day

In 2003, It is an international member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, based in England.

Together with some other leading Indian schools, including The Doon School, The Scindia School, The Daly College, Mayo College, Rajkumar College, and Baldwin Boys High School, Sanawar is a member of the Round Square Conference, a worldwide association of some eighty schools which exchange students with each other. Other member schools include Aiglon College in Switzerland, Ballarat Grammar School in Australia, Deerfield Academy and Chadwick School in the United States, Wellington in England, and Gordonstoun in Scotland.

The school honours its original purpose by continuing to offer a reduction in fees for the children of military families. About a quarter of the boarders are the sons and daughters of former pupils. Till recently, as part of its annual Founder's Day celebrations, attended by many Old Sanawarians, the school continued to troop the Royal colours.

thumb|The school motto, "Never give in"

Notable alumni

Sanawar's former pupils are known as "Old Sanawarians", "OS" for short

Public life

Amarinder Singh (born 1942), Former Chief Minister of Punjab
Sukhbir Singh Badal (born 1962), Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab president, Shiromani Akali Dal
Navin Chawla (born 1945), former Chief Election Commissioner of India
Maneka Gandhi (born 1956), Union Minister Child and women welfare, environmentalist and animal welfare activist.
Jetsun Pema, Queen consort of Bhutan
Rao Inderjit Singh (born 1951), politician, Union Minister of State for Defence Production
Bikram Singh Majithia, Former Minister in Government of Punjab
Ajatshatru Singh, former Cabinet Minister in the Jammu and Kashmir Government
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Lt Governor of Delhi
Uzair, former minister in government of Jammu and Kashmir.
Vinod Sultanpuri, MLA, Himachal Pradesh

Armed services

Vishnu Bhagwat, a former Chief of Naval Staff, India
K. C. Cariappa

Business

Sonny Mehta, publisher and editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf
Jehangir Wadia, managing director of GoAir and Bombay Dyeing
Ness Wadia (born 1970), managing director of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation
Rakesh Mohan, Mohan Meakin Limited
Nitin Khanna, entrepreneur, founder and CEO of MergerTech.
Satjiv S. Chahil, Silicon Valley multimedia marketer
Punit Renjen, Deloitte chairman
Pankaj M Munjal, Hero Cycles chairman and managing director
Kiran Nadar, Philanthropist and founder, Kiran Nadar Museum of Arts

Sports

Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Indian Olympic team, 2012, world trap shooting champion, 2010, and Commonwealth Games gold medallist
Ajeet Bajaj (born 1965), first Indian to ski to the North Pole and the South Pole within a year.
Ranjit Bhatia, athlete who ran in the marathon and 5000 meters events at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Shiva Keshavan, Asian Champion, represented India in luge in 6 Winter Olympic Games in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Rohit Singh, Indian National Rugby Team, season 2005-06
Raghav Joneja, mountain climber

Performing arts

Preity Zinta, actor and entrepreneur
Sanjay Dutt, actor and producer
Saif Ali Khan, actor, heir to last reigning the last Nawab of Pataudi State
Kirat Bhattal, actor
Papa CJ, stand-up comedian
Shaad Ali, film director
Pooja Bedi, actress and talk show host
Feroze Gujral, model
Siddharth Kak, film maker, television producer, and presenter
Iqbal Khan, actor
Apoorva Lakhia, film maker
Tarun Mansukhani, director and writer
Rahul Roy, actor
Bikramjeet Kanwarpal, film and television actor
Vir Das, actor and stand-up comedian
Varun Sharma, actor
Sheena Chohan, actress and Celebrity Scientologist

Other

Parveen Kumar, president of the British Medical Association
Iloosh Ahluwalia, artist

Headmasters

1848—1863: W. J. Parker
1912—1932: Rev. G. D. Barne, later Bishop of Lahore
1932—1933: E.S. Hunt
1933—1941: A.E. Evans
1941—1946: C.G O'Hagan
1946—1947: H.E. Hazel
1947—1956: E. G. Carter
1956—1970: Ravi Somdutt
1988—1995: Sumer B. Singh
1995—1999: Harish Dhillon OS
1999—2000: Rene A. Solomon (acting)
2000—2003: Andrew Gray
2005—2014: Praveen Vasisht
2014—2016: Shonu Mukherjee (Offg.)
2016—2019: Vinay Pande

Parts of the movie Dhurandhar were filmed at this school. Jaskirat Singh Rangi's training location, shown in the song Destiny, and classrooms are from this school

References

External links

Photo Gallery Historic School Album