and Adil Boparai were to consider a new menu.

Akash Maheshwari felt that it was time the school should get new furniture for the Main Building. The Chairman agreed and mentioned Mr. Mason’s efforts on this issue. The Chairman felt that the current classrooms had such big tables that they didn’t allow for any mobility. A modified flip-up desk was placed in Mrs. Purnima Dutta’s classroom. However, the general feeling amongst the students was that these chairs didn’t offer enough space for big textbooks. It was decided that the Secretary would appoint specific boys to sit in the new chair and get back to Council in the next meeting. The issue was to be taken to the Academic Council as well.

Rohanjit Chaudhry felt the time had come to segregate showers and make them into cubicles. The Chairman felt that it was a tradition that had never been questioned. Moreover, open showering enhanced hygiene and maturity. The cost of maintaining cubicles would be enormous and they wouldn’t be hygienic either. It was decided to remain with the present system.

Sagar Aggarwal felt that there should be medical facilities in each House. The Council decided that a First-Aid Box, along with a stretcher, would be kept with the House First-Aid Captain or Housemaster. PBR offered to look into the matter.

The Council felt that next term it should be ensured that there was a no-outing weekend before test week otherwise boys did not study sufficiently seriously. PBR noted this point and said he would make a change in the schedule.

The Chairman brought up the issue of the general layout of the school. He spoke about specific places in school, such as the workshop, the designs of buildings, and their interiors. He asked the Council for suggestions for different structures that ought to be on the campus besides the conventional academic blocks and boarding houses. He concluded by asking the Council to come up with ideas for the next meeting.

Letter To The Editor: Changing Profile

The April 17 issue of Outlook magazine profiles the Doon School as losing its prestige due to the changing demography of its students. While the logic of the article is understandable, one really could not comprehend the wistfulness that the article has tried to portray. It is unclear what this article is trying to prove! Whether The Doon School is losing its prestige because of its present crop or whether Doon is losing out by not getting enough metrokids. Earlier Doscos are referred to as ‘babalog’ in the article. Pampered, rich, living on public largesse. Times have changed and so must Doon. The tone of the article seems to highlight a social difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. It should not really matter if one is a farmer’s son or petrol pump owner’s son or a two-wheeler agency owner’s son. What should matter is what the student does in the years after he passes out of Doon. Does he become a Vikram Seth, Prannoy Roy, a Peter Mukherjea, a Sanjay Labroo – who were not really ‘babalogs’, if we were to stick to the pejorative definition. Or is he unable to stand up on his own feet and carve a niche for himself just because of his background? Doon aims to empower every Dosco to do his best. It continues to groom its students to be front-runners irrespective of which town they hail from or what their fathers do. If School caters to only the ‘haves’ then where will the ‘have-nots’ go? Maybe the ‘others’ are made of better mettle than the so-called ‘babalog’. Should the School only cater to those people with established brand worth? After all, are not schools there to educate those who have the potential to become the leaders of tomorrow? The nostalgic tone of the Outlook article revealed a feudal mindset and a consciousness which sadly has not been undone by fifty-nine years of Independence

(Vaibhav Bansal)