Sanjeewan, as we are told, is a boarding school. Now, what exactly is a boarding school - apart, to the fact that it is a school with a hostel attached?

A boarding school has been described as an educational settlement a community specially designed and organized for the adolescent. "It is whole time education to which the staff devotes their time." It is a 'total' institution because it looks after, or tries to look after the growing human personality in all its aspects – physical, moral, intellectual, creative emotional and social. You can see how that kind of work must involve an extensive, varied, multifaceted organization which must be manned by skilled abled dedicated men and women (from academians, administrators and housekeepers to sportsmen, artists and craftsmen, from scientists and doctors to cooks and carriers). Such an institution must be fully equipped with all the educational material and apparatus etc. necessary to meet the requirements of an all-around education. Of course the vital ingredient is the school it self is set amidst the lovely natural surroundings.

It seems to be a pretty elaborate and clearly very expensive arrangement. I suppose that goes for all good boarding schools. But what would you say is distinctive about Sanjeewan? Can you point out any special feature?

Well yes. As a matter of fact there are some uncommon features. You rightly said just a moment ago that such places must be expensive. But in Sanjeewan we have a very interesting situation. We have always half a good many day- boys and girls. That however is not exceptional. What, we believe, that a large number of our day scholars come from the peasant and working class. From village communities which are scattered in the valleys and mountain ranges around the school.
That these disadvantaged pupils share with their much wealthier comrades the same many - sided and expensive education in this school - they learn, plays, engage in creative and cultural activities etc. That they get all this for a very nominal fee which is hardly about Rs.90.00 a year whereas the boarder has to spend anything from Rs.9000 - Rs.10.000 a year. This clearly means that our boarders (and the school resources) are, in effect, paying for the free education of these day pupils. This, we believe, is a very vital and far reaching aspect of our school work.

Are you making any efforts to develop this feature? Does it pose as a hindrance in any form?

These Children have to waste a great deal of time walking up and down the mountains to and from school. We should like to try to give them some transport wherever there are roads negotiable by heavy transport. The time thus saved, they could utilize in school games and supervised study. We would also like to give them lunch and rest at the school when the boarders have theirs at noon. But at the moment have no resources to spare. About the problems raised by this village component of the school such as comparative backwardness, particularly in language, absenteeism and unpunctuality, lack of cleanliness, lack of required school clothing, lack of facilities for independent learning. Well, these are balanced by their great keenness, their hardiness, by their native intelligence and skills in certain directions.

There is, we think, another notable effort made by the school. One distressing feature of the contemporary scene in India is this preoccupation of our affluent young people with the merely glamorous aspects rather than the real values of western culture. In this school we have our quota of such. But there is a conscious effort here to surround the boys and girls with our own culture, particularly in music dance, painting, manners, and inherent idealism and love of this ancient land etc. without giving up those western ways and values which make for discipline and efficiency in the modern world. In a sense this is the most difficult aspect of our job here.

Do you have the academic and administrative freedom from official interference of official dictation which good schools - particularly forward looking schools like yours - need so much?

On the whole, the Department of education and the Zilla Parishad Officials have been more considerate and appreciative than otherwise. I do not know, however, whether this benevolent attitude arises from any deep realization of the value of freedom for schools of this type. But certainly we have been, on the whole fortunate in this matter.

If what a school is trying to do is educationally sound and progressive, there can be no real reasons to obstruct or to interfere with such work. What about educational methods? Are you trying out any innovations?

We have, from time to time, tried various things. For instance, we are just now engaged in recasting our whole testing and promotion procedure so that the individual child gets his or her due and yet no one needs to be branded as a failure. But in all such innovation we have, unfortunately, to keep one eye vigilantly trained on the S.S.C and H.S.C. examinations. So far, our S.S.C successes have ranged between 90% and 100% over many years. These achievements have not placed and disastrous strain on progressive methods at the pre - S.S.C. levels. But the average teacher does feel constrained by external examinations.

I notice that your members of the staff come from almost all parts of India - Bengal, Tamilnadu, Punjab, Kerala, Orissa, U.P, Karnataka and no on. Does that add to the special quality of this school or does it raise problems?

There can be no doubt it is a valued feature of our school. That national integration about which there is so much talk is quietly and naturally a characteristic of this school community. In fact, working in Sanjeewan and amidst a friendly and the once in a while tiff's, people never think of their regional backgrounds. They are just a number of keen workers enjoying their life and work. This undoubtedly has its own effect on the boys and girls who live in the community.

I notice from your prospectus that you have many extra-curricular activities which you call creative activities. Why do you give importance to them? Or is it just a current educational trend?

It is very far from being a mere fad. We give there activities great importance not merely because that they give the boys and girls an added skill or skills which might be useful in later life. They have a far more immediate application. Beauty and art we think are greater values for human growth-greater possibly than book-learning, high examination marks or intellectual pursuits. The school in its surroundings and in its programmes must reflect that value. They also teach these boys and girls to use leisure in creative pursuits; this is a crucial point in our modern world. The final component that makes up our school, the students from the surrounding villages, may find any extra skills learnt at school extremely useful for their present or future lives.

How does the school keep this school community aware of its social accountability?

The school has undertaken some programmes with this specific aim in view. One such programme is a scheme of rural development sponsored and practically financed by UNICEF for the villages in Kudal Valley to the south of the school campus. Under this the school runs pre-primary centers for the villages, organizes orientation camps for the village primary teachers and runs health education programmes with the help of the school children, staff and other voluntary workers.
Another programme is centered on conservation and afforestation. The school has been given 10 hectares of forest land to teach the children the value and techniques of afforestation and conservation.

Does the school make any special effort to help the children keep and value their Indian identity? Does one have to make any special effort about that kind of thing?

You see, the entire school programme from the morning to night is planned in such a way that, though they are abreast of modern knowledge, they wake up everyday to the strains of melodious Indian music, sing Indian prayers, learn about their own culture and study Indian art, dance, music and on holidays they put on their own Indian dress. The children, though they learn all about aerodynamics, astrophysics, computers and so on, remain basically children who are proud of their home and their great country and its heritage. Being normal school children, they don't go about trumpeting about these things. Nor does the school!

I understand that this school is among those selected by the Government of India for sending their merit scholarship - holders for training: I also hear that the Central Government has given a special grant to the school under the scheme for strengthening of good residential schools. I suppose this fact among several other facts about this school, makes it a member of an all - India group of schools which appear to satisfy some high standards implied in their selection. What are those standards?

We do not know of any specific standards for the independent schools laid down anywhere - by the Government of India or anyone else. But the Central Government has certainly selected some well known public schools as well as a few independent boarding schools like ours, as schools with a satisfactory quality - sending their merit scholars and for occasional help. One might say that quality over and above the quality of the teaching of the staff consists of such things as the variety of life and activity as well as the security and freedom offered to the adolescent, the good equipment, the educational programmes and how well they are carried out, the financial stability, the personality of the head teacher, or the principal, the efficiency of administration and so on.

I expect the school has, during it's ............years of existence produced it's quota of men and women, eminent in public life - we understand that there are several such men in industry, commerce, administration and politics. But what the average parent, rich, or poor is really interested in is that his son/daughter should grow in knowledge and skill and self - confidence in such a manner that he/she is not only successful on the material plain but is also a responsible, enterprising, interesting and versatile person liked and admired by his community. What do you do about that?

How nice it would be if the parents' expectations were of this sensible nature! However, schools like ours and even more, a few of the greater public schools do educate the parents too in this matter. This in itself is a great job good schools are doing. As to what we are doing to carry out our own ideals, we have already outlined to you the kind of organization we have for that purpose. But, of course, to get a real feel of the school and its work you must visit the school and spend some time with us - Panchgani is a charming little hill station and let us assure you would enjoy your stay here.