Lessons in the Haveli

In March,1904,theosophist Dr Annie Besant urged nationalists to promote women’s education in the country. Inspired by her,an executive of the Delhi Tramway Company,Lala Jugal Kishore,established the school in May 1904 with only seven girls. Rai Bahadur Rai Balkrishan Das donated his haveli,Bhajan Bhawan,to house the school. The founding fathers braved opposition from the society,which wasn’t keen on educating its girls. Even finding women teachers proved difficult initially. At the request of Annie Besant,an Australian,Leonora G’meiner,came to Delhi as the first headmistress.

The school did not take long to gain acceptance. In fact,it was an inspiration for many others to open girls’ schools in the city. The school has many firsts to its credit: the first girls’ hostel in Delhi in 1913; first science classes with laboratory facility in 1924; non-formal education for local married women; and within 20 years of its inception,the first women’s college,Indraprastha College,from the upper stories of the building.

As the city geared up for the traditional holika dahan this weekend,Narain Prasad,the chairperson of Indraprastha College,who lives nearby,remembers a different kind of bonfire that took place in the school. “The school was a meeting place of freedom fighters. Gandhiji had started his non-cooperation movement. I remember my sister Sarla and her friends setting afire foreign clothes in the courtyard of the school,” he says. “Kamala Nehru,who was a student here,had sent her donation through her father-in-law Motilal Nehru in 1917,” he adds. Figuring among its alumni are sarod maestro Sharan Rani Backliwal,the first woman instrumentalist,and Kapila Vatsayan.

Among the visitors were Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak,Sarojini Naidu and Aruna Asaf Ali. One of the earliest guests hosted by the school was Rabindranath Tagore,who came here on October 24,1914. The yellow pages of the visitors’ book boast of a scribbled remark by the Nobel Laureate: “My visit to the Indraprastha Hindu Girls’ School has inspired in me a deep sense of admiration not only for the method and manner of teaching followed in this institution but also for the spirit of devotion and noble self-sacrificing working at the centre of it.”

Built with brick and Jack Arch roofing,the three-storey building is a typical haveli with European arched doorways,stained glass windowpanes and a central hall with a fireplace. The gateways make the structure unique. It has two entrances. The one on the Paiwalan side represents Islamic architecture with pointed arches and intricate floral designs. The one on the Chippiwara Street has a traditional Hindu gate with deities,birds and auspicious symbols.

Inside,there is a well that’s functional. The second-floor view of the Jama Masjid towering over Chandni Chowk completes its old-world charm.