Mayo College

Mayo College

Mayo College Coat of Arms
Let there be Light
Location
Srinagar Road
Ajmer – 305008
India
Information
School type Public boarding school
Founded 1875
Founder Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo
School board CBSE
School district Ajmer district
Authority Board of Governors
Head of Governors HH Maharao Brijraj Singh of Kotah
Principal Lt. Gen (Retd) Surendra Hari Kulkarni PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Vice principal Mr. Surindir Kumar
Founder Headmaster Col. Sir Oliver St. John
Faculty 85
Gender Boys
Age 9 to 18
Pupils 850,
Student to teacher ratio 10:1
Medium of language English
Campus 187 acres
Houses 12
Colour(s)                         
Mascot Peacock
Nickname Mayo
National ranking 01
Publication Mayoor
Affiliation Mayoor School, Noida
Mayor World School, Jalandhar
Former pupils Mayoites
Annual fees INR310,000 (Home Students)
INR620,000 (International Students)
Website www.mayocollege.com

Mayo College (Informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo who was also the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. The school is one of the oldest public boarding schools of India. The present principal is Lt.Gen(Retd) Surider Kulkarni, who has occupied the post since 2015 and is the Seventeenth principal of the school.

The idea for the college was proposed in 1869 by Colonel Walter. The school was founded in 1875 and Colonel Sir Oliver St John became its first principal.[1] The founder's intention was to create an Eton of India. The 1st Earl of Lytton, Viceroy of India, said in a speech on campus in 1879:

"The idea was well expressed long ago by Colonel Walter in an excellent and most suggestive report which may have influenced Lord Mayo when he founded the present college. In that very sensible report Colonel Walter pointed out that what was then most needed for the education of India's young rulers and nobles was an Indian Eton. Ajmer is India's Eton and you are India's Eton boys."[2]

With a view to providing the leaders of the princely states with an education similar to that given by a the Punjab public school. The British built Mayo for the sons of the Indian upper classes, particularly the princes and nobles of Rajputana. The school houses 850 pupils aged 9 to 18.

Mayo College is considered among the best boarding schools in the world.[3][4]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was composed from the design furnished by Lockwood Kipling, a former principal of the School of Arts, Lahore and father of the famous Rudyard Kipling.

In the upper centre of the shield are Mayo Arms, and Quarterings, a Lion Rampant and an Open Hand. On the right and left are the Sun and the Moon, typical of Suryawanshi and Chandrawanshi, the two great families of Rajputs. Below are the Panch Rang, the five sacred colours of the Rajputs, Red, Gold, Blue, White and Green. In the centre is a Rajput fort – two towers connected by a curtain. The Supports are on the right, a Bhil warrior with string bow and quiver full of arrows. On the left a Rajput, armed at all points, wearing a steel helmet with three plumes, a shield on his back, a dagger and Qatar in his belt, and a suit of chain covered with embroidered cloth and gauntlet on his hand.

The motto is "Let there be Light". The badge is a peacock, the sacred bird of Rajputana, standing on a two-edged, two-handed Rajput sword Khanda.

Postage stamp

Mayo College Stamp

On 12 April 1986, the post and telegraph department of the government of India released a stamp of Mayo College, showing the main building. The multicolour stamp was designed by India Security Press, Nashik Road. The First Day Cover shows the emblem of the Mayo College. The cancellation was designed by Nenu Bagga. [5]

School museum

Mayo College is home to the Danmal Mathur Museum housed in Jhalawar House, which it shares with the Arts School. The college museum showcases priceless antiques and an armoury section. The museum is considered to have one of the best collections of any school museum in the world.[6]

History and traditions

College building c. 1895

Facilities

Monitors of Batch of 1931-32

Houses

Sports

Publications

Publications are supplied internally and sent to other public schools in India and abroad. Publications of Mayo College are:

Mayoor

Mayoor was established in the late 1960s by the then principal of Mayo, Jack Gibson. It is a major bi-monthly newsletter of Mayo College featuring college news, updates, and photos. The editorial team consists of an editor-in-chief who is an English teacher of the school and a team of editors from the student community. Mayoor used to have a Hindi section which featured articles and poems. This was later removed when an independent Hindi newsletter called Paridrishya was established in 2006.

The Mayo Mail

The Mayo Mail is a weekly newsletter, established in 2008 by a group of students of Grade 7. It has now become a publication which prints four fresh sheets every week and is called the 'newspaper' of Mayo College. It consists of write-ups on school happenings and activities like the trademark Mayo 'Tweets' and Mayo 'Howlers'.

Paridrishya

The independent Hindi magazine called Paridrishya was established in 2006. The magazine consists of articles, poems and jotting written by the school community. The magazine has an editor-in-chief, who is a Hindi teacher of the school, and a group of student editors.

Reflection

Reflection, established in 2007, is the student magazine. It is filled with poems, articles and facts which are illustrated with pictures. Reflection comes out three times a year.

College Magazine

The College Magazine is an annual collection of happenings that year in Mayo College. It has English and Hindi sections and contains reports, speeches, photographs, poems, articles, and case studies of the school.

Other publications

In popular culture

The Bollywood movie Parampa was shot in Mayo.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Mayoites

Alumni of Mayo College are known as 'Old Boys' and are also referred to as Mayoites.

Students come to Mayo from overseas, including members of royal families from Oman and Nepal. The school has educated two Sultans of Oman, one of whom was the current Sultan's father – Sayyid Said bin Taimur.

Mayo College has educated members of royal families including Bikaner, Alwar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Kotah. HH Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, Rana Arvind Singh Mewar, Prince Shivraj Singh of Jodhpur (Marwar-Jodhpur) and Kirit Bikram Deb Burman: Erstwhile Maharaja of Tripura from the second oldest continuing ruling lineage after the Mikados of Japan.

Old Boys from Mayo have served in the armed forces and others serve as members of Parliament and senior Civil Servants. Jaswant Singh is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs and K. Natwar Singh of the Indian Foreign Service served as India's Ambassador to Pakistan and as External Affairs Minister.

Old Boys have served as Indian ambassadors to Morocco, Spain, Norway, Brazil, Libya, Switzerland and France.

Old Boys have made their mark in commerce and industry and in science and technology. The Vice Chairman of Tata Motors, Ravi Kant, erstwhile Chairman of Shell Oil-India, Ajay Mehta, erstwhile chairman Emeritus of Nestle-India, Narendra Singh of Sarila, former Chairman of Air India & Indian Airlines, Probir Sen, erstwhile chairman and MD of Axis Bank, P.J. Nayak, Member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, Sushil Wadhwani, the retired Chief general manager & Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India & erstwhile managing director of NABARD, Yashwant Thorat, as well as Rakesh Mohan, who served as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India have all schooled at Mayo. Mayo has also produced academic economists like Alok Bhargava who researches on food policy issues in developing countries and in developed countries for formulating public policies. Mayo has produced scientists such as the eminent scientist in the field of electronic materials, Amit Goyal.

Journalists who attended Mayo include Vir Sanghvi, Siddharth Varadarajan, and Manvendra Singh, writers Vikram Chandra (Red Earth & Pouring Rain, Sacred Games) and Indra Sinha (Animal's People, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize), Sudeep Chakravarti (Tin Fish & The Red Sun. Artist Painter Jaideep Mehrotra, (Red Fashion Designer Raghuvendra Rathore, Celebrity Chef Jiggs Kalra, Actors Ajay Mehta, Bobby Deol, Tinnu Anand, Vivek Oberoi, Sagarika Ghatge, Filmmakers Pradip Krishen (also an environmentalist and writer of Trees of Delhi), Samir Karnik, Goldie Behl, Heeraz Marfatia, etc. and theatre personality, Amir Raza Husain.

The school has produced sportsmen including Charu Sharma, Cricketer Arun Lal and Lokendra S. Ghanerao (who captained India at Polo).

Acclaimed mathematician and winner of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, Eknath Ghate is also an alumnus of Mayo College.

J. T. M. Gibson Award for Excellence

The J. T. M. Gibson Award for Excellence was created in 2007 to be given to old boys who have, consistent with Jack Gibson's ideals, made a difference to society. Honorees include:

2007
2012

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ List of Principals of Mayo College Accessed 11 November 2007
  2. ↑ Mayo College as India's Eton A speech by the Earl of Lytton in 1879
  3. ↑ 'Bearers of the standards, Outlook C Fore Survey' Outlook Magazine, 2001. Accessed 11 November 2007
  4. ↑ Eton of The East; December 23, 2000; Indian Express Newspaper
  5. ↑ Detailed Stamp Release Information Postal Stamp Name: MAIN BLDG MAYO COLLEGE; Stamp Issue Date: 12/04/1986; Postage Stamp Denomination: 1.00; Postal Stamp Serial Number: 1189; Number of stamps printed: 15,00,000; Philatelic Stamp Description: The 100 P. multicolour stamp showing the main building of Mayo College, Ajmer, has been designed by India Security Press, Nashik Road. The First Day Cover shows the emblem of the Mayo College. The cancellation was designed by Nenu Bagga.
  6. ↑ Opportunities: The Mayo College, Ajmer; Jun 09, 2004; The Hindu Newspaper

References

External links