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Journalism of Courage
On July 19, 1884, a section of Pune’s elite gathered at Hirabaug Town Hall amid incessant rains. The purpose of the gathering, which was attended by several high-ranking colonial administrators, including William Wedderburn, was to discuss the establishment of a high school for the local Indian women.
At that time, Pune had a primary school for girls but no arrangement for the higher education of women, although such institutes existed for men. As per newspaper reports from the time, about 100 women linked to the Arya Mahila Samaj founded by Pandita Ramabai had met a few days prior and passed a resolution in favour of a higher education institute for girls.
The memorandum was handed over to Justice M G Ranade, who presented it at the Hirabaug gathering, also attended by S P Pandit, V A Modak and Dr R G Bhandarkar.
The group formed the Maharashtra Girls’ Education Society which then pushed forward the proposal with the government.
“All of these were forward-thinking social reformers of the 19th century and believed that women’s education was essential for social upliftment and reform,” says Professor Sharvey Dhongde, convener of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Pune.
As per ‘India’ (1893), a volume edited by Oxford-based historian H Morse Stephens, Indian boys were two generations ahead of the girls in education, and the colonial government, although aware of this disparity, was cautious as the question of higher female education was mixed up with “social and religious considerations of a delicate kind”.
A success from day one
The Hujurpaga school for girls commenced its activities on October 2, 1884, in Walwekar Wada, Dane Aali. “On the very first day, 18 girls enrolled. Within just a week, the number increased to 45. Since the place could not accommodate the increasing number of students, some classes were held in Kibe Wada,” says Dhongde.
To accommodate the growing number of students, Tatyasaheb Patwardhan, the ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Sangli, offered his land on Laxmi Road in 1885 on lease. This is where the school stands today. “This land of 5 acres was used for horse stables (Paga in Marathi) of the Peshwa royalty (Hujurs). Hence the name of the place colloquially became Hujurpaga,” says Dhongde.
The Hujurpaga school was later renamed after Tatyasaheb’s father and was later formally renamed His Highness Chintamanrao Patwardhan High School (HHCP).
An institution flourishes
Although the government did not agree to the founding group’s proposal to support the Hujurpaga school for 25 years, and only funded it in the early stages, the school survived and flourished to become a successful institution, receiving praise for the quality of education being imparted and the management of the school which forced the government’s hand in extending financial aid when needed.
The school’s enterprise expanded with time with the addition of a hostel facility in 1907, and a separate building for the primary school named after mathematician R P Paranjape, was established in 1978. The Hujurpaga Mahila Vanijya Mahavidyalay — Commerce College started in 2001.
Another branch was initiated in Katraj in 1991, gradually growing to include nursery, pre-primary, primary, secondary, and higher secondary sections. In 2011, vocational courses commenced.
From its initial enrolment of 18 students, the Hujurpaga school now educates around 10,000 students, emphasising responsibility, cultural awareness, and empowerment. English-medium schools were introduced in 2010 and 2011 at Laxmi Road and Katraj, respectively, without adversely affecting the response to its Marathi-medium branches.
