So the end is here again (don’t get your hopes too high, it’s only the end of the term): four days from now, most of us, if not all, will be back home – apart from those lucky people who have already nicked off home on some pretext or the other. Chandbagh will become a peaceful abode once again (actually, I am sure the masters will take advantage of our absence and have a party time themselves!). And, in retrospect, I can safely say it’s been a great term.

What exactly happened this term? A lot...the D formers survived their first term in school (thanks to a batch of nice Scs), Kashmir House finally won a major cup (just kidding guys, well done!), the Nizams left the rest of the Houses gaping cluelessly as they took away the Cricket Cup by a considerable margin, while the Warriors made a bid for the Gong successfully and won the Hockey Cup with Kashmir. The Scs had two rocking Socials (or at least that is what we made you believe), the new S form and Sc-Leavers got brilliant results in the Board Examinations beacuse of their hard work (masters also deserve a round of applause for their success), ‘biker-boy’ took over as Dy. HM, the school cricket team had a 50 percent success rate, the school hockey team was also right up to there as it reached the finals of the Districts and the Council Schools’ Hockey Tournament, and by lunch today, Trials would have breezed by. These were the main pieces making up the term’s jigsaw.

The Weekly has been delivered to you on every Saturday this term (except the Saturday after midterms, sorry, but we couldn’t excuse ourselves from our date with the mountains). We continue to be open to your suggestions as it is impossible for the twenty-one of us to decide what the school community appreciates or what should be the correct mix of articles.

It’s time to part (only for two months, sadly) and take a well-deserved break. So, go have fun, gain a few kilograms. On behalf of the entire Editorial Board of The Doon School Weekly I wish you Happy Holidays (and finally a few easy-going Thursdays and Fridays for us!).

From The School Captain

Avyay Jhunjhunwala reviews the term gone by

Another term has come to a close, and we leave School with fond memories and some unhappy reminiscences. Yet, I must say that the term did fly by and most of us, if not all, will cherish the term gone by.

Commenting on sports this term, both the School cricket and hockey teams had an average season. However, both the Inter-House Competitions were played with immense zeal and enthusiasm. I sincerely hope that all Doscos play with such passion and so-called ‘josh’ for the School and not only for the House. I appreciate the fact that all the players displayed a great sense of sportsmanship and hope that this will continue. It was nice to note that the disputes at the matches ended on the field itself and were not carried to the Houses. Much to everyone’s surprise, our basketball team performed spectacularly in pulling off a stunning victory against the BKSP boys in the semi-final of the Afzal Khan Basketball Tournament. Although they were defeated in the final, it was good to see budding talent.

The School Council had a very hectic term. Many meetings were prolonged, due to the discussion of important matters. Out of the many conclusions that were drawn out from the meetings, we came to the agreement of having a Senior, Junior and House Cup after it was passed in the Games’ Committee, and this, I personally feel has been a great success. There was a lot of debate on the relaxing of the S and Sc form schedules. The surprising thing is that some of the proposals were shot down by the seniors themselves. It was very interesting to note that boys are actually concerned more about the future of the School than their personal luxury.

The masters have been quite supportive of the prefects this term. Prefects do require their support at all times to make sure that the School’s conduct and behaviour is not unbecoming and it is, to some extent, a give and take relationship. Prefects need to be given space, to handle the affairs inside the House. For the smooth functioning of the House, it is very important that the prefects and the Scs share a good rapport with the Housemaster. Both need to make compromises for the general benefit of the House.

To comment on the senior-junior relationship in School: it has become a lot more relaxed than it ever was. An example of this was seen in the K House quadrangle where boys from A to Sc form played marram pitti together, and it was nice to see the juniors and seniors ‘crack’ each other with the ball alike. But, even as we look into this issue, we must realize that there is a fine line between a senior and junior, and a junior must learn not to exceed his limits. There are times when you can joke around with seniors and there are times when you need to adhere to what the senior says.

I totally support the notion that there should not be any ragging and no one should, at any cost, be physically intimidated. Yet, the School needs to guard against being too protective towards its juniors.

I must say that the level of discipline has improved by a huge margin. But, the one thing we really need to work on is punctuality. It was disheartening to learn that many of the boys only understand through the language of punishments. Words hardly have any effect on them. Surely, it is not that tough to abide by the rules, and yet boys have to be constantly checked and punished for breaking them. Do we need to be constantly policed in order to teach us what is right? Can we not learn without punishments?

In the end, I would just like to add that it is us, the people of The Doon School that make up this community and we must strive to make Doon a better place.