Sirion School is a co-ed international school that lies on the lower reaches of the Himalayas, 5km away from a little known town, Gabalpur and 13km away from the nearest railway station at Murti Colony. It is a full day's travel from Delhi, India.
Sirion School begun in 1897, begun by a man called Kensington who used to own the whole area and used it as a holiday village for the British officials and missionaries during summer. Most of the old buildings were built before the school began (though of course they have been renovated many times).
During the 1890's, Kensington's jute factories in East Bengal were not faring very well, also thanks to the surging Indian independence movements. So he turned his holiday village into a school for boys, catering to British officials, anglo's and missionaries' children and left the country for good, after serving as a Principal for two years.
The school didn't garner much attention and produced good students consistently. It has gone through much change, physically and in its philosophy among other things. And one big change happened when the school became co-educational. But the legacy of its past and its consistency remains and is ingrained into every student that comes and goes from this institution.
The school is marked by four towers, none of them inhabitable though, named after the directions of the winds. And the school houses are also named after them. There are boys and girls dormitories on each of these four divisions.
North Tower is considered the oldest section because the tower and the rooms are least renovated. The symbol is the mountain, because it faces the Himalayas. West Tower's symbol is the pine tree. East Tower boasts of the best view, onto the valley and Lake Hira. Their symbol is the rising sun. South Tower is the most renovated section and boasts of a sparkling new sound recording studio and a mini video studio.
5km from Sirion Gate, lies Gabalpur, the town nearest the school and during weekends and several weekdays Sirion students go and spend their times there, shopping or eating or just enjoying the crowd.
Much of Sirion's population are from around the world from more than 60 countries and one notices a sense of diversity and yet one-ness among its students.
The present Principal is Mr.Baldwin who used to teach History.
Ben Ning, Creative Practitioner