Lawrence School, Lovedale

The Lawrence School, Lovedale (formerly known as Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, the namesake of its founder Brigadier-General Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence KCB), is a co-educational private boarding school located at Lovedale, which is a little town on the Nilgiri Mountains in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Lawrence had mooted the idea of establishing a chain of British Raj military-style boarding schools at the hill stations of India to educate the children of the deceased and serving members of the British Indian Army. Although Lawrence was killed at The Residency, Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 his dream took shape and four such schools, known as the Lawrence Military Asylums, were established: at Sanawar in 1847, and at Mount Abu in 1856, both during his lifetime; then at Lovedale, Ootacamund in 1858 and at Ghora Gali, Murree, in present-day Pakistan in 1860.

The campus

The Lawrence School, Lovedale has its campus on 750 acres leased from the Ministry of Defence in Lovedale, which is 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Ootacamund. Located at a height of 7200 feet above mean sea level, it is slightly lower than the Dodabetta peak (altitude: 8650 feet), which is the highest peak of the Nilgiris mountain range.

Many notable personalities, such as former Prime Ministers and Presidents of India Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Zail Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and others such as Sam Manekshaw, Venkaiah Naidu and Kiran Bedi, have visited this campus to grace the school's Founder's day and other special occasions.

Several movies, TV shows, and commercial advertisements have been filmed in the school campus. Some of the popular ones include:

• The Archies (film)
• Adhura
• School of Lies
• Karwaan
• Raaz (2002 film)

Architecture

On May 31, 1988, a commemorative postage stamp was issued by India Post to commemorate 130 years of its existence with an image displaying the towering campanile section.

Student body

The student body is from all over India and overseas, and is led by prefects headed by a head girl and head boy. The school also has a 40 percent reservation of seats and a 20 percent fee subsidy for children of Indian Defence personnel.

Notable alumni

• Akshaye Khanna, a film actor.

• Amish Tripathi, a novelist, banker and diplomat.
• Anand Mahindra, a businessperson, and chairman and managing director of the Mahindra Group.
• Vice Admiral (India) Anil Chopra PVSM AVSM, a naval officer and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.
• Anjolie Ela Menon, a painter and Padma Shri awardee.
• Arun M. Kumar, a venture capitalist, and former Chairman & CEO of KPMG India.
• Aryama Sundaram, a lawyer, judge and former Supreme Court Justice of India and Singapore.
• Arundhati Roy, a writer and social activist.
• C Vijayakumar, a business executive, and President & CEO of HCL Technologies.
• Lieutenant General (India) Dhiraj Seth AVSM, an army officer and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Command (India).
• Fahadh Faasil, film actor and producer.
• Gul Panag, a politician, actor, model and 1999 Femina Miss India Universe.
• K. V. L. Narayan Rao, a media executive and former CEO of NDTV.
• Kanika Tekriwal, an entreprenuer and airline executive.
• M. M. Murugappan, a businessperson, and former Executive Chairman of the Murugappa Group.
• Major Mohommed Ali Shah, an army officer and film actor.
• Nalini Ambady, a social psychologist.
• Nikhil Dey, a social activist.
• Nomita Chandy, a social worker and Padma Shri awardee.
• Nosthush Kenjige, a sportsperson and member of the United States national cricket team.
• Nungshi Malik, a mountaineer and Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee.
• Palanivel Thiagarajan, a banker, politician and member of the Tamil Nadu Council of Ministers.
• Paul Sabapathy CVO CBE, an accountant, business manager and former Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands.
• Rear Admiral (India) Philipose George Pynumootil AVSM NM, naval officer and former Flag Officer Naval Aviation.
• Pratap Pothen, a film actor and producer.
• Ram Charan, a film actor, producer and entrepreneur in Telugu cinema.
• Rear Admiral (India) K. Raja Menon, a naval officer, military author and former Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (India).
• Sashi Reddi, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
• Sanaya Irani, a film actor.
• Tashi Malik, a mountaineer and Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee.
• Thiru Vikram, an inventor, engineer, entrepreneur and CEO of Buffalo Automation.
• Vijay Menon, an actor, editor, director and dubbing artist in Malayalam cinema.

References

External links

• Official website