Crew floaters. He said that the material was much better and since they were locally available, it would be the best bet. PBR brought two more pairs of floaters, both Gliders. One pair was given to Avyay Jhujhunwala and the other to Adil Boparai. The Council would take a final decision at the next meeting.

PBR had followed up on the issue and told everyone that the Doctor suggested a deck of cards, a carom board, chess, and some magazines. The Council decided on the following:

1) 1 Carom Board

2) 2 Chess Boards

3) Magazines – India Today, Outlook, Sportstar

4) Newspapers – Times Of India, Hindustan Times

DKS brought some samples of the different games shirts to the meeting. It was decided that more blue should be present on the shirt. It was also decided that the shirts should be collared. The discussion then shifted to the School Team kits for Hockey and Soccer. Both these teams should have more or less the same style of kits. DKS and Akash Maheshwari offered to think of possibilities.

Shoumit Mukhopadhaya felt that having washing machines in all houses would bring about convenience in washing clothes, especially home clothes. The question was of supervision and maintenance. The Chairman said that currently the laundry of 3 Houses was outsourced and 2 Houses was washed in school. PBR reported that a company had approached the school some months earlier, but since their working area was not hygienic, the school had rejected it. The school may look at their facilities again to see if they had improved. Moreover, he said that he would take the issue to the Dames and ask them the current situation of laundry regarding frequency. The Chairman also felt that boys should get clothes tailored more often rather than relying on hand-me-downs from boys who had left school. He also felt that the cuts at the sides of the school shirt and the current games shirt made the children look sloppy. PBR would look into the matter.

Abhimanyu Walia said that dance would be quite popular was an S.T.A. The Secretary suggested that we hire a choreographer, only for the Inter-House competition. MCJ reported that Mr. Gursharan Singh had been looking for a dance teacher, but was not able to find anyone with the right combination of folk and western skills. It was decided that if enough boys were willing to learn folk dance, then a teacher could be arranged. The Doon School Weekly would feature a poll on whether or not boys wanted to learn Indian classical dance. Council members were doubtful that there would be much interest.

c) More Inter-School Junior Activities

Amit Gupta suggested the School arrange more inter-school competitions for juniors such as debates, chess, and quiz. However, the Chairman said that it was his impression that there were not many junior competitions in these areas at the junior level in Dehra Dun as also in Delhi. Also, the School had not received any invitations to such competitions. The Secretary suggested that the School start some junior competitions. PKN felt that the term schedule was too full for this. A Sub-Committee of Jaivardhan, Amit Gupta, and PBR was formed to look into the possibilities.

Aaditya Gupta told the Council that the majority of S formers left to do engineering or medical courses. He suggested that if the School had some type of coaching classes to offer, it would reduce the amount of S Formers who left. The Chairman explained how the school’s previous connections with FIT-JEE had ended because of the franchise had closed. Mr. Kamal Ahuja had looked into alternatives but could not find anything suitable. Some of the problems with various local coaching institutions included time, finance and the quality of instruction. If anyone knew of institute offering coaching, the authorities could look into the matter. He also mentioned that IIT had brought down the standard of its Entrance Exam. This may or may not ease the pressure on students to opt for coaching.

Achshay Singh felt that like, art, music and quizzing, publications and dramatics colours should be awarded. The Council felt that boys who contributed tremendously towards school publications, usually received School Colours. As far as dramatics was concerned, there were already enough awards given during Special Assembly. The Chairman then went on to explain that since there were Inter-School Competitions in art, debating, and quizzing, the respective colours made sense. Boys also got points for the Scholar’s Blazer. It was therefore decided that publications and dramatics colours were not warranted.

f) H& K Bathrooms Should be Renovated

Shoumit Mukhopadhaya felt that the bathrooms of Hyderabad and Kashmir House were in very poor condition. PBR said that the bathrooms of all houses were repaired to a certain extent every term. Nonetheless, PBR would have a look at the bathrooms along with Shoumit Mukhopadhaya and see if anything could be done.

DKS said that boys under the age of 16 are not meant to use weights for various health reasons. There was also the question of numbers. If A formers were permitted to use the weights, there would be too many users for comfort.

h) McDonalds Should be Served in the Tuck Shop