Welham Girls Alumni Association

Presidents Report – 2022

Dear Exies,
As I sit down to author my last report as the President of our Alumni Association, a mixed bag of emotions courses through me.

A little bit of sadness that my tenure is over, and I must admit a large amount of relief as I get ready to hand over the reins of the Alumni to the younger bolder team.

What a year we have had with the #57 fest celebrating the 65 years of Welham. My report this year will be shorter as I noticed many of us are not managing to get through long winded reports, me included. I was asked to summarize what I have achieved in my tenure and frankly I could not think of one thing I have achieved. However, my Team has managed to create an Alumni Association we can all be proud of.

We managed to reach all our targets for the year: -

With the help of social media, we managed to connect our Alumni all around the world. A sense of community beyond the walls of WGHS has been achieved.
Our WeCare initiatives continued with great gusto and we were able to continue our support to the Pranaam project for our teachers, the Shiksha Saarthi project, which aims to educate all the children of the support staff in school, has increased our commitment to 5 children, a special mention to the New York chapter which had started with supporting one child and have now managed to raise funds for two more children’s full education through their schooling. So, in 2023 we will raise our commitment to seven children and hopefully more.
Our project to support sixty children’s education through the Aasraa project continues with the unflinching support of Welhamites across the world
The city chapters have been phenomenal in organizing events all over to celebrate the spirit of Welham. Most of you attended the events and I hope felt a sense of connect with our Alma Mater, the amazing cakes each city managed to create for the events were worth seeing.
The batch reps have been amazing in sharing all the relevant information across the board for all of us. A big shout out of appreciation for all of them.
Now, the finale in School this year, as we celebrated the 65th year, was humbling. Our programme started with WELHAM WOMAN REAL TALK on the morning of the 20th where seven distinguished ex Welhamites from different spheres of life came across to School to interact with the girls. They discussed their journey through School as well as prepared the girls for what the big bad world has in store for them. The excitement in the dining hall at lunch, where each group discussed swapped notes was palatable.

My biggest take personally was the interaction Documentary filmmaker Aruna Har Pasad had with the littlest BII as she walked through the Orioles dorm after her talk and regaled them with stories of the famous spirit Maya (the story has been passed down generations) she is the origin of the legend.

As we wound up with the Talk the team headed to BERRY HOUSE, where the gracious host Aanchal Berry let us have her home to host our Sundowner, another very special shout out to NEELAM MISSAL who sponsored a part of our evening, it was a magical evening where Ex Welhamites with a few brave spouses danced the night away, till the men in Khaki decided it was enough.

We missed those who could not make it due to Diwali being too close to the Founders’ dates. At the meeting held with the Board next year, it has been unanimously decided that the dates will never be so close again.

The 21st was Sports Day where we had a large contingent of exies marching with great gusto, but the icing on this cake was that we had our very own Jyoti Burrett who was the Chief Guest invited by School. Her speech was inspiring and from the heart. We all felt so proud to be there. The Kadhi Chawal lunch for the Jubilee Batches was enjoyed thoroughly.

The evening programme was sublime, and I have never seen the girls enjoy themselves on stage as much as the junior girls did. Here again another feather in our cap, the programme had been created and directed by another ex Welhamite who had come back to her alma mater, Seher Noor Mehra.

The gracious principal Ms Kapoor hosted a lovely dinner for all of us at the principal’s residence, a large number of girls and ex teachers were present, it was wonderful to see everyone interact over a drink.

The next morning was Founders, and the memorabilia stall was swamped with young and older Welhamites, our team worked tirelessly to provide as much as we could in the limited time.

The evening was again ours as our Chief Guest DEVIKA BULCHANDANI batch of 1987 stole the show with her speech. The Fearless Girl was where I personally resonated with her. The girls gave her a thundering applause as one could see she had connected with all of them and the bridge between the present and ex Welhamites was complete.

Those of you who missed her speech please reach out to the Alumni and we will send you the link. As I re read what I have written, we, as alum have come a long way, but we have miles to go before we rest. We hope to see more of you getting involved with making our Alumni some of the strongest and most FEARLESS GIRLS.

We are very proud of our Golf Team, which included 6 exies , Shiraz , Sanjoli, Nalini , Dimple , Sonal and Disha . The Welham’s team stood 4rth out of 10 teams participating in the Inter Boarding school tournament, The team participated for the first time , we were also the only girls team in the tournament. Congratulations to the team and hope we go from strength to strength.

Please join us for the Annual General Meeting on the 23rdof of December 2022. Venue and time is shared in the Agenda enclosed as well.

The Proposed WGAA team for the year 2023.

Name	Designation
Disha Chopra	President
Anjana Shastri	Vice President
Namrata Kapur	Treasurer
Arshiya Takkar	Secretary
Savleen Thadani	Member Memorabilia
Natasha Sinha Shruti Tandon	Member We Care
Shruti Tandon	Member We Care
Renee Chandola	Member Compliance
Hema Mehra Shivani Anand	Member Liaison
Aashna Kothiyal	Member Communication
Anjali Sapra Natasha Varma	Member Finance and scholarship

SHIVANI ANAND

PRESIDENT WGAA

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History of Welham

Our milestones, brick by brick, from then to now.

On a cold winter’s day in February 1957, 10 young girls assembled to start their boarding school experience at Welham Girls High School in Dehra Dun. This was how an incredible journey began, that would take our School from its humble beginnings to the incredible institution that it has become today.

Founded by Miss HS Oliphant, Founder-Principal of Welham Boys Preparatory School and our first Principal Miss Grace Mary Linnell, the School began to function from the residence and gardens of Nasreen, the iconic building at No 12 Circular Road, that every Welhamite, old and new, will always recognise and associate with as ‘School’. Another property at No 19, Municipal Road was taken for the Principal’s residence and School office. No 17, next to No 19, was taken later and housed the Junior School. Founders Day programmes were held in the back verandah of No 19 and the audience sat in the garden. Gradually, over the years, this small campus has grown and developed into today’s Welham Girls School, credited with being the best residential school for girls over the last few years. During Miss Linnell’s tenure classes were held in No 19 and a small barrack like building in No 12, which was then demolished, and the current double-storey classroom building went up in its place. While it was being built the BIs and AIIIs trudged back and forth from a rented house where their dorms were located. Next to the new classroom building was a long single-storey low set of rooms which had the playroom, the games master’s office, 2 tiny rooms for piano classes and the tuck room at the back, scene of many a raid. Along the back wall new dorms were built with rooms for the HMs. The Junior School remained in No 17. The tiny games field in front of the classroom building, which has now been cemented over, somehow managed to cope with many an enthusiastic hockey player and Welham girls were the backbone of the U.P. State Hockey Team. Baseball batters tried to hit the ball into the windows of the biology lab on the first floor and some even succeeded, much to the staff’s dismay. Chose a subject and somehow Miss Linnell, from the then small town of Dehra Dun, found someone to teach it, be it elocution, French, shorthand, typing or classical western music appreciation. The dining room, a low, single storey, long room also became an auditorium when a stage was built at one end.

Stepping into Miss Linnell’s shoes was Miss Saroj Srivastava, the English teacher, who took on the daunting task of taking the School out of the ‘red’ into a healthy financial status, which she succeeded in doing, supported by her Board of Governors, trusting donors and understanding parents. It was during her tenure as Principal that the first Alumni daughter joined School. Concentrating on getting School’s finances into a healthy condition was the highlight of Miss Srivastava’s term and she will always be remembered for this. During her term No 6 was taken for dorms. Some of the lovely fountains and garden area in No 12 gave way to Miss Linnell’s grave and the prayer platform, but the peacock throne and summerhouse remained. Land purchased by Miss Linnell, for which she came under fire from the Board for spending too much money, had lain unused, and Miss Srivastava finally attempted to use this for games when plans to consolidate a campus were made.

It was then up to Mrs Shanti Varma, a parent and former member of the Board of Governors, who took over from her, to begin the process of acquiring more land and developing buildings. It started with the School’s current auditorium, so aptly dedicated to and named after her in 2017. Her tenure began during troubled times and efforts to shift the School, from the Dalanwala campus to a larger area, had not succeeded. Land near Haridwar had been purchased but was considered unsafe from a security point of view and land on the Chakrata Road had issues with adequate water supplies. If we had shifted, a proposal to turn No 12 into a girls’ college had also been considered, as the idea of giving up our beloved Nasreen was unthinkable. The decision then was to remain in Dalanwala and try to buy properties around No 12, taking the dream of a consolidated campus forward. No 17 was sold and Narauli House purchased for dorms while the older ones were refurbished; the Home Science lab building came up on the tennis courts next to the original entrance and the playroom building and long jump pit gave way to another block with labs, the library and the art room. Sadly, the trees along No 12’s original grand avenue entrance, directly opposite No 6, had to be cut down because they were old and diseased. The entrance then changed to its current corner gate, donated by an alumnus. A house towards the rear of the School was purchased for the Bursar and hospital, which later shifted across the road to another property. A corridor of land giving, easy access from No 12 to the Games field was bought as well as another property adjacent to the field for tennis courts and other sports facilities.

Mrs Jyotsna Brar, alumnus and then Principal of another school succeeded Mrs Varma. During her tenure the School changed quite dramatically. The grounds and buildings were spruced up. The interiors of Nasreen were restored to their former glory with fireplaces, woodwork and tiles being highlighted. Dorms were all shifted out to the other buildings. The building facings were changed to have the same appearance. The Principal’s Office was shifted to No 12. The old building in No 6 was demolished to make way for the swimming pool and the corner property next to it, opposite No 12, was purchased for a variety of activities. Alumni generously donated the current hospital and the old hospital turned into staff quarters. An office block came up in No 19 to accommodate office staff. More refurbishment and renovation were undertaken. Water harvesting began, the School got its own tube well water supply Donations from alumni helped in improvements to both building and facilities with each anniversary batch doing their bit to help, specially with an underground passage to link No 12 to the property across the road.

With the very recent change of Principal from Mrs Brar to Mrs Padmini Sambasivam comes more development. A shooting range has been added to sports facilities. The Tadpole tuck shop has been enlarged to make practice areas for Kathak and Bharat Natayam dancers during rainy days or for girls to just chill. The underground passage has been completed and leakage in dorms fixed. More floors are planned for staff quarters and music room and gym facilities are to be improved.

And so, from these humble beginnings to today, through years of trials and tribulations, shifting, adjusting and making do with what there is, from crowded dorms to captains’ rooms and ‘dungeon’ bathrooms to running hot water, through two wars and rationing, epidemics of chicken pox and measles, changes in exam systems and digitisation have come the most amazing alumni a School could ask for. From politics to public service; art and architecture to advertising and adventure travel; media and medicine have come athletes, doctors, dancers, yoga experts, filmmakers and documentary producers, actors and housewives, corporates and authors, poets and lawyers; carers of refugees, challenged children, the disabled and homeless animals; experts in international affairs and economists; distinguished eminent citizens, media personalities and famous artists. Scratch the surface of a profession or a field of interest and you’ll be sure to find a Welhamite, living up to the intrinsic values these courageous and far-sighted women have inculcated in us, nurturing and mentoring, while keeping in mind the prayer of our English Founder-Principal, Miss GM Linnell: “Make us chose the harder right instead of the easier wrong”; setting us our focus in no uncertain terms, while inspiring us to enlightened humanity with our motto *Arth Shanti Phala Vidya*

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Welham Girls Alumni Association

It took 50 years and many sporadic attempts by many hardworking alumni over the years to actually get today’s formal Welham Girls Alumni Association registered. Like the history of a School that started with a few thousand rupees and 10 girls, the WGAA too started with a handful of committed ex students, who came together over the years in fits and starts to get things off the ground, encouraged by Mrs Shanti Verma, who in time would become Principal.

By 2005 it was becoming evident to all of us that it was essential to have the Welham Alumni Association become a formal body. Welham was fast heading into its Golden Jubilee year in 2007 and there was still no formal Alumni Association!

An informal meeting of what is the core group today, met at Mrs. Jyotsna Brar’s home over a cup of tea to discuss the 50th year of Welham and from that informal discussion emerged the serious process of putting into place today’s formal Welham Girls Alumni Association.

An Executive Committee was formed, comprising of members from 16 to 60 years of age! A memorandum of Articles was formulated, outlining the aims and objectives of the fraternity. It was registered and we were granted 80 G certification, which enables us to offer tax exemption to anyone contributing towards the School and Alumni projects through the WGAA.

The WGAA was formally set up in 2005. It was established not only with the usual objective of alumni societies, which is to bring together ex-students and promote interaction between them, but with the aspiration to support the School in various projects, provide succor to the larger Welham community of staff members and caregivers and give back to society through socially responsible initiatives.

It has since grown in strength under a committed and enterprising leadership with remarkable women at the helm. Asha Chaudhri who headed the Alumni before the formalization of the WGAA as a society, Sujata Kulshreshtha, the first President of the WGAA, Parbeen Kaur, Hema Mehra and Anjali Bansal Sapra have all, with vision and purpose, consolidated and strengthened the Association into the cohesive organization that it is today.

The Purpose of the WGAA

The Alumni body has in addition, contributed generously to School development projects as well. The effort has been coordinated by the WGAA and the funds successfully utilised for the Kitchen Upgrade, Library Renovations, an Ambulance, contributions to the new Hospital, the Swimming Pool and more recently a Mac Computer, Music room upgrade, new Toilets in the Games Field etc.

In addition WeCare was started in 2007 with the launch of the Coffee Table Book I HAVE WINGS, the sole purpose of which was to raise funds to help those in need, support retired teachers and class IV staff as required, as well as to put together the History of the School in its full recorded form.

We are currently supporting 40 girls at Aasaraa Trust Dehradun from January 2018 through the One for One initiative of WeCare.

We hope to keep the spirit of Service to the School and to those who helped us continue to soar!