Local at Dehradun (14.5.25)

Getting up in a garden (7.00 am):

The Old British House offered us a garden as soon as we opened our doors, with the scent of flowers and the chirping of birds. A totally different look from the mountains and the rivers, but equally welcome. We had our tea sitting in the lawn while we planned our day. Our landlady had expressed her inability to prepare meals, since her cook had an illness in the family, which meant this place became more of a AirB (not even an AirBnB), but we did not mind. Who wanted her two slices of bread when we could walk into any of the twenty cafés scattered on Rajpur Road?

Breakfast at Ama's Cafe (9.00 am):

Rajpur Road is THE place for eating out, with no dearth of cafés and restaurants. Ama’s Cafe had been recommended by our landlady Seema, and we drove the required 4 mins to a swanky first floor cafe, who seemed to be specialising in freshly brewed coffees. The place was full of its delectable fragrance.

We had both decided that Dehradun will be a sort of celebration for having completed our hill circuit successfully, and eating well would be a major parameter. So while Panna chose an American breakfast with pancakes, masala omelette, sausages and bacon, washed down with a sweet lime, I had an English breakfast of toast, sunny side up eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, beans and tomato, followed by black coffee. At the end of it all, other meals of the day could go totally missing, for all we cared.

Visiting Doon School (11.00 am):

The traffic at the heart of town, near the iconic Clock Tower on Mall Road, was more chaotic than on Rajpur Road, but that was to be expected. In 30 minutes though, we were standing at the Hyderabad Gate of Doon School, waiting to be let in.

Let’s face it, the Doon School IS iconic. From my childhood, I had looked upon it as an elite institute, where the richest of the rich study. Maybe top govt officials, whose children go on to become top govt officials, smoking pipes. No doubt it is an elite institute, with an annual intake of just 80 students, and a tough entrance test. No doubt, with a monthly fee of around a lakh, your dad needs to be rolling in the stuff a bit to afford to send you there.

Vikram, my batchmate from IIMC, very kindly arranged an introduction to Mr Arjun Bartwal of Doon School. But when we met him there, an ex-pro-golfer who left his employment in ITC (Classic Golf, remember?) to join Doon School 8 years ago, in charge of fundraising and admissions, we learnt a few new things about Doon School which increased our respect for this institute a lot.

- This boys’ school takes in students only at Std 7, at most at Std 8, with graduation at Std 12. At 80 per batch, that’s just 600 odd students. Focus is therefore really high.

- The number of students in a typical class would be around 20 only. Focus again.

- Classes are just from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm, whatever the season. Afternoon is spent in sports and extracurricular activities, and extra classes, if any.

- When students are interviewed at the time of admission, after passing a slightly off-beat written test, the favoured students are those who seem to have higher team-building and social skills, rather than just intellectual brilliance.

- Regarding higher fees, given the low intake and high resources provided, it is bound to happen. Still, the trust promotes full scholarships to around 20% students currently, if the parents find it difficult, and the level may increase to 50% of students in future. This is to maintain a fair mix in the students, and not have a ‘money speaks’ culture in the young minds.

- Students do labour contributions, in building the Rose amphitheatre, for example, or in taking turns in serving meals to fellow-students. Having started in 1935, serving food across castes during the early days was not an easy thing.

- Interestingly, after Doon School was formed in 1935, they sent an offer to Rabindranath Tagore to head it. Since he was quite busy with his Shantiniketan project, he declined, but sent Khastagir instead, together with his 'Jana gana mana' song, just composed, which used to be privately sung in the school, and was publicly sung for the first time in the Rose amphitheatre when Vijaylaxmi Pandit was visiting in 1942. This was before the song became the national song, of course.

We liked the culture of Doon School a lot. It is not easy to remain focused on character development in today’s competitive academic milieu.

Mr Bartwal organised a buggy for us for showing us the different houses, the main building and the subsidiary labs and course-buildings. The campus is sprawling, very green, and, given the age, extremely well-maintained. Facilities for classes, dining and studying are excellent, and clearly for sports as well.

Frankly, if our son was about to get into Std 7 now, we would have given Doon School a serious shot.

A splurge at Ellora’s Melting Moments Bakery (12.30 pm):

Vikram, my point of reference at Dehradun, although he mostly lives in Singapore, had insisted that we should not miss this bakery on Mall Road, and we popped in there after our Doon School visit. No doubt a place of great variety, and the crowd was testimony to the quality of stuff. People were picking up basketful of goodies, perhaps for munching through the week. We picked up butter toffees/stickjaws, jujubes, cake rusk, buttery mix berry biscuits.

A visit to the Forest Research Institute (1.30 pm):

It is the institute from which IFS (Indian Forest Service) officers are produced. FRI is also the leading institution in forestry-related research, particularly silviculture. My special connection was that my father, who retired as the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, West Bengal, was also a product of this institute, from the 1952-54 batch.

We enjoyed the sprawling green campus, the old-styled huge building with arched corridors, and the six museums that had been kept open for visitors (though we had energy for only two - it was a hot day).

We also met a PhD student, Sabyasachi Bannerjee, who was studying Trichoderma, mixing stuff sitting in the corridor.

Lunch at Farzi Cafe (3.00 pm):

A late lunch, I know, but those whopping breakfasts at Ama’s were still having meetings in our stomachs, as to what could be the reason for the sudden change from the spartan diet to a bacchanalian one. So we delayed our lunch as much as we could, finally driving up to Farzi Cafe, which was very close to our homestay on Rajpur Road. A couple of chicken sliders for Panna and a veg slider dish (called Guptaji’s burger) for me, left us fulfilled, in more ways than one, and ready to go home to a nice AC room.

Dinner at Basque (8.00 pm):

Once again Vikram came to our rescue, designing our day at Dehradun like a connoisseur. Half an hour from our homestay, on Mussoorie Raod, was this iconic dinner place, which could not be missed. Well, the garden ambience was great, and the weather ideal for sitting outdoor. We were still full from the day's indulgences, so Panna dined lightly off a chicken Burrito Bowl and I off a plate of prawn hargow (dimsum).

Tomorrow we travel to Bareilly.

Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray