"The Butlerians" HARCOURT BUTLER SR. SEC. SCHOOL - 1917

Harcourt Butler Sr. Sec. School – 1917
Earlier Called Bengali Boys School

Reading Road (Mandir Marg, Lower Ridge Road) New Delhi 110001

Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler  (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the Indian Civil Service. He served as Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1918 to 1921 and later was the first governor of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1921 to 1922. He played a pivotal role in setting up of schools in the city

The practice of moving schools began after the capital shifted to New Delhi in 1911 from Kolkata. Several schools were set up in the vicinity of newly inaugurated capital at Raisina Hills to cater to the educational needs of children of government employees.

The school was set up by a Bengali society on a rocky edge of the central ridge. Later, the British Government took over its control and started funding its operations. The existing structure of Harcourt Butler School was set up by Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler in 1917. Nestled on a hilly platform at Reading Road (Mandir Marg), the two storey building is built in the English style of architecture with high arched ceiling and colonnaded corridors. The front section holds senior classes and the extension, which was constructed in 1960s, is reserved for its junior wing. Both sections are connected by a bridge built over a nallah passing through the complex, which has dried out long ago.

The school has a rich and distinguished history. It was the first such school established during the British era and has survived to witness completion of 100 years of its thriving existence. The Harcourt Butler Sr. Sec. School is one of the oldest and renowned institutions of Delhi. It dates-its origin as back as the eighties of the nineteenth century. Initiative to start this august institution’s was taken by a few enterprising, painstaking and farsighted gentlemen from Bengal who were serving the then central government. It was named as the Bengali Boys School and catered to the educational needs of the wards of the then central government employees. In 1912, the school was renamed as the ‘Harcourt Butler High School’, after the name of Sir Harcourt Butler, the then Education Member of the Government of India. Until 1919, the school functioned under the direct control of the central government. With the introduction of ‘Montague-Chelmsford Reforms’, its control was transferred to the Education Department, Punjab.

Till 1943 it remained affiliated with the Punjab University up to Matriculation. In the same year, the school was renamed as Harcourt Butler Higher Secondary School as Class 11th was introduced in Delhi. The first higher secondary examination was held in 1946. The school is located at Mandir Marg, next to Lakshmi Narayan Temple. The road was earlier known as Reading Road because of the number of schools situation along it.

In 1939, it was the last time when the government moved to Shimla. The World War II had begun that year and economic constraints forced the government to stop the shifting process. It was in the same year when Mr. S. Lal was appointed as Class Teacher of 5th class at Shimla on return from England after completing his studies there. He later became the Head Master and Principal of the school from April 1947 to April 30, 1965. It was Mr. Lal’s dignified behavior, soft temperament, gentle nature which endeared him to the students who gave their respect and love to him in abundant measure.

The student of 1946 batch had Nirmal Verma who would later become a famous Hindi writer, among the teachers were “Adib Sir’’ of Iranian origin who taught Persian. Ganga Dhar, son of school peon Mohar Singh, completed his graduation and was appointed as English teacher, a feat admired and cheered by everyone. However, he turned out to be a very strict teacher.

Students of Harcourt Butler School from senior and junior sections participated in the Quit India movement at the call of Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942. They marched to Gole Market holding afloat the flag when they were met by a police contingent which dispersed them.

The school had a strong participation in sports activities with cricket and football leading the pack. Famous Indian cricketers from the Amarnath clan – Mohinder, Surinder and Rajinder – were Butlerians. In the cultural and film world, Satish Kaushik who made a name for himself as a comedian and film-maker in Bollywood had studied here. In the world of politics, Bhupinder Singh Hooda who came from a distinguished political family of Haryana, belonged to the 1961 batch. A prominent Congress leader, he later became Chief Minister of Haryana and had two full terms in office.  In the media world, the school sent its students in various branches – Sunil Dang who is Executive Member at the India International Centre (IIC) and Vinay Kumar who became the National Bureau Chief of The Hindu and Secretary-General of the Press Club of India, S.N. Sinha, a noted Photo-Journalist of the Hindustan Times and Sushil Kumar, a photo-journalist from the HT group. Hence, Butlerians have presence in each fraternity and they have made their presence felt by their wit and grit which they inherited from their prestigious school.

Satish Kaushik (Bollywood Actor) who was a student of science stream and passed out in 1972 has many fond memories of his school. “As it was located at the ridge, on occasions, I would walk through the woods to reach school from my residence in Naiwala, Karol Bagh. My first brush with acting also took place in the school when I performed mono acting at an annual function in my last year. Our NCC and Basket Ball teams used to be very strong,” he said.

Kaushik recalls that he would receive all of 5 paise as pocket money which he would spent on buying roasted corncobs on way to school. He, however, added that he never felt the lack of money as his friends helped him out. “I come from a humble background and majority of students belonged to rich or political families. And it was a historical institution so I always had a sense of pride,” the actor says.

Known for its culture and disciplined educational environment, has produced eminent engineers, army officers, politicians, sports person, and actors. “Lal Bahadur Shastri also admitted his elder son Harishankar Shastri here during his tenure as Prime Minister,”

It was the only school which functioned from Delhi and Shimla as the British Government shifted its seat of administration to Shimla during the summer. The government employees, mostly parents of the students of the school, had to establish themselves at both the places.

The Harcourt Butler Senior Secondary School functioned from both New Delhi and Shimla till 1939. The school that was attended mainly by the children of government employees. Every summer vacation, schools empty out for at least a month, but imagine a school that emptied out for six months or schools didn’t always shut down for summer vacations — in fact, some of them shifted bag and baggage to the then summer capital Shimla during the summer months. This School used to shift to Shimla in April and returned after six months in October with all paraphernalia, teachers and other staff to Shimla. The matriculation exam was conducted by the University of Panjab, Lahore at that time.

The practice of migration was stopped at Harcourt Butler School after 1939 when the Second World War broke out and the British administration faced a fund crunch force the government to stop the shifting process. Presently, Kendriya Vidyalaya is run from the premises of erstwhile Harcourt Butler School building at Jakhoo Hill (known for its Hanuman Temple) in Shimla.

Some Pictures related to Harcourt Butler Sr. Sec. School :

VIDEO SONG BY OLD BUTLERIANS MR.VINOD MOHINDRA: https://youtu.be/2gcPmLcmaLg