Student-led initiatives take centre stage at Oakridge International School Bengaluru
"When students feel heard and valued in the school, they become empowered," explains Kavita Sukhani, Principal, Oakridge International School Bengaluru. "Our students graduate from school with everything they need for success – whatever they choose to be or do in life'.
The initiatives by the Student Council at Oakridge exemplify how learner agency positively impacts both the school community and society at large.
Oak Insider – Digital Community Building
Teachers at Oakridge constantly train students on digital etiquette and encourage responsible use of gadgets, which is an essential self-management skill. This academic year, the student-led Instagram page garnered 60,000+ views and 1,000+ interactions, establishing an effective communication channel for school events.
OAKMUN – Oakridge Model United Nations
Oakridge International School Bengaluru hosted its 9th edition of prestigious Model United Nations, bigger & better as OAK MUN in November 2024. A one-of-its-kind MUN in the city, solely organised by the student leaders, witnessed the participation of 350+ students from 12 schools. The event is expanding to an international level as SEAMEI OAKMUN in September 2025.
CASNIVAL – Creativity, Activity, and Service in Action
Christmas is when students celebrate the 'Joy of Giving' through CASnival. Students organised food and game stalls, raising ₹1.5 lakhs to support the different charitable causes they are part of. Their efforts contributed to community development and to the Social Impact campaign of Nord Anglia Education.
Codefest – Overnight Hackathon
The 8th edition of Oakridge Codefest, the prestigious overnight hackathon, witnessed more than 100 participants contesting to secure cash prizes from a pool of ₹ 1.5 lakhs. The student committee successfully secured Adobe as the event sponsor, with the teachers supporting them to independently organise a large event.
Relay for Life – Social Impact Campaign
This Social Impact initiative, steered by the student-led Social Outreach Committee at Oakridge, successfully raised ₹ 2,20,000 for the activities of the Indian Cancer Society. Students brought together the school community for Relay for Life, an overnight walkathon dedicated to celebrating cancer survivors, honouring the loved ones lost, and raising funds for the work that aids cancer patients.
Phoenix Cup – Interschool Sports Competition
The interschool sports competition featured basketball, football, and swimming events, drawing around 400 enthusiastic participants from 12 schools across Bengaluru. The event highlighted student independence and autonomy in organising the event and networking with fellow players from different schools.
Inter House Activities & Cultural Celebrations
Regular house-wise competitions ensure a supportive ecosystem for students to celebrate inquiry and creativity. Throughout the year, the Student Council also organises celebrations for Dussehra, Diwali, Halloween, Winter Spirit Week, Teachers' Day, and Good Luck Party, promoting inclusivity and encouraging cultural appreciation within the school community.
'We are constantly on the lookout for opportunities where the Council can support students and enrich their school experience. This year, one of our key focuses is to strengthen school and student culture by organising a variety of events throughout the year', says Yajwin Krishna, Student Council President (AY 24-25). Speaking of student agency at Oakridge he further added, 'The events are closely aligned with our school's mission and vision, which remain at the heart of all Council initiatives. We have an open environment where students feel encouraged to voice their thoughts and opinions. Our Student Council is truly by the students, for the students'. Sachit Shastri, Student Council Vice President (AY 24-25) echoed the same sentiment.
About Nord Anglia Education:
As a leading international schools organisation, the institution is shaping a generation of creative and resilient global citizens who graduate from their schools with everything they need for success, whatever they choose to be or do in life.
Their strong academic foundations combine world-class teaching and curricula with cutting-edge technology and facilities, creating learning experiences like no other. Inside and outside of the classroom, they inspire their students to achieve more than they ever thought possible.
No two children learn the same way, which is why their schools around the world personalise learning to what works best for every student. Inspired by high-quality teachers, their students achieve outstanding academic results and go on to study at the world's top universities.
The Nord Anglia global family includes 80+ day and boarding schools in 33 countries, teaching over 90,000 students from ages 3 to 18.
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Economic Times
3 hours ago
- Economic Times
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The Print
a day ago
- The Print
Postcards from Hyderabad—stories Europeans told about the city
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These images participated in the construction of what Palestinian-American academic and literary critic Edward Said might call an 'Orientalist mise-en-scène'—picturesque, passive, and eminently collectible. Although ostensibly epistolary, postcards were also ethnographic. At its core, the idea of a postcard is deceptively simple: a portable visual object, often functioning as a souvenir of place, memory, or moment. Between the 1890s and the 1920s was a period now called the 'postcard boom'. Enabled by improvements in lithographic printing, postal reforms, and the growing mobility of bodies and images across empires, the postcard emerged as the perfect distillation of modernity: portable, pictorial, and public. A postcard is often a declaration of 'I have been here'. The idea of coupling an image with proof of presence is hardly unfamiliar to a generation fluent in Instagram stories. Curiously, a postcard from the early 20th century (reproduced below) contains this very declaration as its caption. Issued by A. Abid & Company of Hyderabad, it features a panoramic view of the Nizam's Charminar Palace, surrounded by a reservoir, garden, palm tree, and a fountain. This palace was also the residence of Albert Abid, an Armenian-origin Chamberlain to the Nizam and owner of the postcard firm, along with his wife Annie. Hyderabadis will know 'Abids' as a commercial complex that continues to stand on over 150 years of local history. Albert and Annie enjoyed being in close quarters to the Nizam, but their curious life and story is one for another telling. Abid & Co. was a major local player in Hyderabad's postcard trade, curating an impressive collection that showcased the city's iconic landmarks: Charminar, Golconda Fort, Mecca Masjid, among others. Globally, however, the dominant player was Raphael Tuck & Sons, a London-based publisher renowned for its lavish, hand-tinted postcards and its close ties to the British royal family, distributing imperial imagery across continents. Hyderabad was not as much a darling of the Raphael Tuck &Sons catalogue as Calcutta, Bombay, or Madras. Even so, the postcard's memorialisation of Hyderabad forms the ground for thoughtful scholarship. One postcard that I find particularly fascinating is titled 'Hyderabad. Arms Sellers'. It was released in 1908 by Raphael Tuck & Sons, as part of their 'Native Life in India Series II'. The richly coloured postcard paints the princely state of Hyderabad through a lens of exoticism and martial nobility. Three dark-skinned men, wearing richly hued turbans and flowing garments, seated amid a gleaming display of curved swords and weaponry. The postcard perfectly confirmed Orientalist fantasies, a place where swords gleamed and men wore colourful turbans. Hyderabad was historically notable for its tradition of arms manufacturing and trading, particularly during the Nizam's rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The city had a substantial presence of arms dealers, such as the Rafiq Armoury, which was established in 1872 and remains one of the oldest arms and ammunition dealerships in India for over 150 years. By 1908, when this postcard was produced, the world had already entered an era of mechanised warfare dominated by sophisticated European weapons. Yet here, in this carefully curated image of Hyderabad, the weapons of choice are still curved swords. In contrast, the British Empire's power by this time rested on far more 'sophisticated' terms: technological superiority, standardised artillery, and an industrialised army. Equally fascinating is the caption that accompanies the postcard. The caption reads 'Arms Sellers, Hyderabad. Hyderabad, the capital of the state of the same name, is celebrated for its swords and other arms. The population, which is about 500,000, consists of mixed elements, and is full of warlike spirit and nearly everyone carries a weapon. Hyderabad is one of the greatest centers of Mohammedanism in India.' The caption appears to be saying a lot about the city in general. It is presented as a repository of martial tradition and religious identity. The mention of 'warlike spirit' and a population where 'nearly everyone carries a weapon' lends the image of curious fascination about civilised primitivism. The reference to Hyderabad as 'one of the greatest centers of Mohammedanism in India' also flattens the city for an European viewership who would have read 'Mohammedan' as a marker of both exotic difference and imperial anxiety. It is also fairly evident that these arms sellers are framed not as individuals, but as representatives of a type: the exotic native warrior, purveyor of arms, vestige of a fading martial culture. This discussion on typification grants up a good point of entry into the next postcard, perhaps one of the most popular recipient of the Edwardian postcolonial nazar— The Nautch Girls of India. This one from Hyderabad stands apart for one primary reason—it attributes a name to the nautch girl. Miss Chanda of Hyderabad. On the surface, it might appear as if the nomenclature resists genrefication of Miss Chanda. The story is a little more complicated than that. Miss Chanda is dressed in a richly detailed outfit: a lavender skirt with gold ornamentation, a white dupatta, and a tightly-fitted bodice, all pointing toward a culture of princely luxury and Islamic court traditions. There is a hint of feminine grace and affluence in the image. But of course, she is not just Miss Chanda—she is Miss Chanda of Hyderabad. Her identity is inseparable from the exotic geography she is meant to evoke. The title alone transforms her from an individual into a representative type, a kind of visual ethnography meant to educate or titillate a foreign audience. Much like the portraits of arm sellers and street scenes, this image offers a version of Hyderabad through its people—yet what it frames is not Miss Chanda's life, but her legibility as an object of curiosity. If Miss Chanda was granted partial visibility through the privilege of a name—only to be reabsorbed into the grammar of exotic femininity—then the next figure's visibility was never in question. Possibly the earliest known postcard of a named Indian ruler (with several to follow) features Mahboob Ali Khan, Asif Jah VI, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, and one of the richest men in the world at the time. This postcard marks a shift from anonymous 'types' discussed so far, to named power. But it does so on very specific colonial terms. The Nizam is dressed in full court regalia, the embroidery on his coat ornate, his belt tight across his waist, a heavily jewelled cap crowning his head. The postcard is highly stylised, composed like a studio portrait. The paradox that we must not forget is that despite his opulence and sovereign authority, he is a part of a collection titled 'Souvenir of East Indies', built for exotic European consumption. Also read: What makes someone a Hyderabadi—Irani chai, biryani, Nizam nostalgia, or Dakhni? Bazaars, Boats & Buildings The human figure was not the only object of fascination. The city's monuments, too, featured prominently in this visual archive. A series of postcards from the early 20th century turns its gaze toward Hyderabad's architectural grandeur, most notably the Charminar, the Golconda Fort, and the Mecca Masjid. Each of these postcards, whether of streets, mosques, palaces, or tombs, offers a distinct image of the city. Hyderabad, The Char Minar by Johnston & Hoffmann (Kolkata, c. 1903), for instance, is less about the iconic monument itself and more about the bustling bazaars and the sea of curious onlookers that fill the frame. The bustling bazaars of Hyderabad form the subject of Street at Hyderabad by Unknown Publisher, c. 1905, and the famous Sarojini Naidu poem that reads: 'What do you sell, O ye merchants? Richly your wares are displayed. Turbans of crimson and silver, Tunics of purple brocade, Mirrors with panels of amber, Daggers with handles of jade.' – Sarojini Naidu, In the Bazaars of Hyderabad In The Mosque of Machii-Kaman by Austrian artist Josef Hoffmann, the stock elephant and the lively figures in the courtyard animate the centre of the frame. Possibly the earliest known postcard of Hyderabad, it was created by Hoffmann during his visit to India in 1893–94, when he was in his sixties. In contrast, the postcard titled Tombs at Golconda, Hyderabad adopts a more pastoral tone: a boat gently approaching the rocky shore, softening the memory of empire into picturesque leisure—into a scenic tourist fantasy. These postcards draw a picturesque theatre of the exotic. Hyderabad becomes a living museum, ready for the European gaze and imagination. What then remains of these images, more than a century later? For all their colonial underpinnings, they also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name. To read these postcards today is to inhabit a complicated temporality—one in which the empire looks, but we, too, look back. This essay, then, is not an attempt to salvage truth from image, nor to dismantle colonial visuality in totality. These postcards may have once said, 'I have been here,' but today they ask instead, 'What was here—and for whom?' (Note: All postcards have been sourced from online blogs and archives. The following set is drawn from Paper Jewels, a free-access postcard collection: Miss Chanda of Hyderabad; Arms Sellers, Nizam von Hyderabad; The Char Minar; In the Mosque of Machii-Kaman; Tombs at Golconda, Hyderabad; James Bazaar Street, Secunderabad; and Street at Hyderabad.) Souvik Nath recently completed a Master's degree in English Literature from the University of Hyderabad. His research interests centre on colonial modernity and its textual manifestations. Views are personal. (Edited by Ratan Priya)
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Step inside Nehru family's 2 Allahabad homes: Both Swaraj Bhawan and Anand Bhawan mix colonial and Indian architecture
In an August 15, 2024 article, Architectural Digest India captured glimpses of both Anand Bhawan and Swaraj Bhawan, 'the Nehru family's ancestral homes in Allahabad (now known as Prayagraj)' – both were central to India's freedom struggle, with many prominent leaders and activists visiting and meeting there. Also read | Step inside Juhi Chawla husband Jai Mehta's timeless and whimsical ancestral home in Gujarat's Porbandar built in 1920s Anand Bhawan and Swaraj Bhawan are two historic houses in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad). (Pictures: Instagram/ Architectural Digest India, Simon Watson) Inside photos of Anand Bhawan Anand Bhawan, located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, was the brainchild of Motilal Nehru, a prominent leader in India's freedom struggle and father of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. Alongside inside photos of the home, the publication shared that the first-floor library in Anand Bhawan was the soul of a household full of avid readers and more than any particular architect, the spirit behind the construction of Anand Bhawan was Motilal Nehru himself. The building showcases a mix of Indian and Western architectural styles, with intricate details and ornate features. The magnificent structure with 'onion domes, decorative railings, jalis and rich internal embellishments, such as the plasterwork on this stairwell', served as the residence of the Nehru family and played a significant role in India's independence movement. Inside photos of Swaraj Bhawan The publication shared that 'the older, and more stately, of the two Nehru residences is where the foundations of the Non-cooperation Movement were laid'. It now functions as a museum. The bungalow, with a mix of colonial and Indian architectural elements, features arches framing the veranda, Nandi sculptures at the courtyard entrance, a central courtyard that showcases the blend of architectural styles, and endless corridors leading to different rooms. Did you know Swaraj Bhawan boasts of a colonial-era swimming pool, a rare feature in historic Indian homes? The massive home is a blend of Western and Indian cultural influences, showcasing the cultural exchange and adaptation that occurred during the colonial era.
