Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' Public School

Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School, is located in Jaipur, India and was established by and named after Her Highness Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. It was the first and the oldest all girls' school to be established in the State of Rajasthan.

History

The school was founded on August 12, 1943 and is affectionately known as MGD.

In the summer of 1940, the Maharaja of Jaipur, His Highness Sir Sawai Man Singhji Bahadur brought home Princess Ayesha Gayatri Devi, of Cooch Behar, as his bride. She was the daughter of the Late Maharaja and Late Maharani Indira Deviji, of Cooch Behar. Her maternal grandfather, His Highness Siyaji Rao Gaekwad of Baroda, was a pioneer in the field of education, specially of women, as far back as 150 years ago.

Educated in England, Switzerland, and Shantiniketan, and widely travelled, what she saw of the lives of the court ladies and their young daughters disturbed her. Their cloistered existence confined to the isolation of their own ‘havelies’ and mansions. The only change they could expect was, on marriage, to go to another ‘haveli’, another mansion and adjust to another family. The ladies moved around town, if at all, in heavily curtained cars and carriages. They had no idea or glimpse of the world outside.

His Highness, the Maharaja Sahib was concerned that girls' education was one field in which Jaipur was far behind other states and provinces in India. So he asked Her Highness what could be done to get the women out of the shackles of the ‘purdah’ "Give me a school and I will try", she said, “Once the girls go to a school there will be no ‘purdah’ in a few years'”. His Highness summoned his Prime Minister Sir Mirza Ismail, and the Education and Finance Minister, Rao Bahadur Amarnath Atal, and the order to allot land and plans ready for the school building was given. The foundation of Maharani Gayatri Devi School was laid.

The school started with 24 girls and Ms. Lilian G. Lutter as Principal^[1] on the lines of the British Public School Pattern.^[2]

It was the first girls' public school to be accepted as a member of the Public School Council of India' Conference (I.P.S.C.). In 1950, M.G.D. became a Center for the Cambridge Examination for Jaipur. In 1962 the school shifted to the Indian School Certificate Board.^[3]

The school follows the Central Board for Secondary EducationCBSE curriculum. The founder principal of the school was Ms. L.G. Lutter. The principal of the school is Mrs. Suniti Sharma. The school completed 60 years of its existence in 2003 which was marked with the felicitation ceremony of the founder,^[4] her highness Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur. Shiv Kumari of Kotah is vice president of the school.

School Campus

The school is situated on the Sawai Ram Singh Road, in the heart of the city and sprawls over 26 acres (110,000 m²). Today it has over 3000 students from all parts of India of which 400 are resident on campus, studying from Classes I to XII.^[5]

The campus consists of buildings, gardens, lawns, sports fields, tennis courts and a swimming pool. There are eight boarding houses, each for age groups - Anand, Lillian Hurst, Ashiyana, Gitanjali, Deepshikha, Maharani Indira Devi Bhawan, Rani Vidya Devi Bhawan, and the teacher's residence - Nivedita House.

Apart from the academic and administrative block the other buildings are: House of Science, Maharaja Jagat Singh Wing, The biology lab, the indoor stadium, the open air stadium, the Guild office, Infirmary cottage, Principals' residence, STD booth and the tuck shop, the bank, the guest house (Miss Lutter’s bunglow), SMS convention hall, SMS dining complex, the Quiet Corner (Miss Lutter’s Grave, and Miss Emma’s Memorial), the Art Cottage, the dance and music halls, the canteen, two tennis courts, swimming pool, the basket ball court, the rose garden and hockey and cricket fields.

Boarding and hostel life

Apart from day schooling, the school has boarding facilities. The students are divided in eight hostels according to the class they study in. Students in Standard I-IV are housed in Anand A and Anand B, Standard VI in Lilian Hurst (named after the founder principal, Ms. L.G. Lutter), Standard V in Ashyana, Standard X are housed in Geetanjali A and Geetanjali B, Standard IX in Deepshikha and Standard VI, VII in Vidya Devi Bhawan with the senior most batches in Standard XII being housed in Indira Bhawan, (named after the mother of Rajmata Gayatri Devi).

Houses

The students are divided into four houses named after notable women achievers: Madame Curie: red, Helen Keller: blue, Florence Nightingale: green, Sarojini Naidu: orange.

Inter-house competitions range from cultural, art and craft activities to music and dance as well as debates and quizzes. In sport the students participate in inter-house and inter school sports competitions, and represent the city and state at national and international levels.

Sports and extra-curricular activities

MGDians participate in inter-house sports championships such as athletics, basket-ball, swimming, running and judo competitions. A grand sports day with a marching parade is organised every four years. MGD hosts the Annual IPSC Sports Meet and other inter-school sports competitions.

School Song

Oh come
lets sing of MGD
shout till the rafters ring
stand and shout and cheer once again
let every MGDian sing
and sing of all the happy hours
sing of the carefree days
sing of all who may be absent
yet linger in our hearts always
of the trees
of the lawns
of the pool
in its glorious loveliness
of the staff
of our head
of the highness who started
the school for us
of the games
of the chums
of the council that upholds
the rights for us
of the red
of the blue
of the green
and the orange always
so come
lets sing of MGD
shout till the rafters ring
stand and shout and cheer once again
let every MGDian sing
and sing of all the happy hours
sing of the carefree days
sing of all who may be absent
yet linger in our hearts always..."

Terminology

• Introductory: Class I
• Transition: Class II
• Preparatory I or P I: Class III
• Preparatory II or P II: Class IV
• Preparatory III or P III: Class V
• Junior I or J I: Class VI
• Junior II or J II: Class VII
• Junior III or J III: Class VIII
• Senior I or S I: Class IX
• Senior II or S II: Class X
• My Study: Rough Notebook

Notable alumni

• Meira Kumar - Speaker, Lok Sabha, Five time Member of the Parliament
• Pamella Bordes
• Maneka kumari shah - Christie's India
• Queenie Dhody - social activist
• Sandhya Mridul - actress
• Vasundhara Sharma - Times of India (Bombay Times)
• Jayshree Ahuja - fashion designer (Lakme fashion week, movies like Umrao Jaan)
• Dharmendar Kanwar
• Sangita Gairola
• Jyoti Kathju
• Ipshita Singh - broadcast journalist CNN IBN
• Nita Verma
• Jabaakhi Borthakur - journalist

References

1. ^ http://www.mgdschooljaipur.com/History.aspx
2. ^ http://www.mgdgirlsguild.org/am.php#history
3. ^ http://www.mgdgirlsguild.org/am.php
4. ^ Royal vignettes: Jaipur: In touch with reality The Hindu, Oct 20, 2002
5. ^ http://www.mgdschooljaipur.com/AboutProfile.aspx

External links

• Official website