The Doon School is a boys-only academically selective boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, founded in 1935 by Satish Ranjan Das [1] The school's first headmaster was Arthur E. Foot, who had spent some nine years as a science master at Eton College, England. [2] The old boys of Doon are known as Doscos, and the alumni body is represented by The Doon School Old Boys' Society. Admission to the school is based on a competitive entrance examination and an interview. [3] [4]
Doon remains a boys-only school despite continued pressure from political leaders to become coeducational. [5] However, girls are admitted in case they are daughters of the school staff (see entries for sculptor Latika Katt and actor Himani Shivpuri). [6] [7] Although the total number of Doscos is relatively small (estimated at 5,000 since the school was founded in 1935), they include some of India's prominent politicians, artists, writers, social activists and businesspeople. [8]
Note: The sub-headings are given as a general guide and some names might fit under more than one category
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Rajiv Gandhi | 1962 | 6th Prime Minister of India | [9] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Mani Shankar Aiyar | 1958 | Minister of Panchayati Raj, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports | [10] |
Jitin Prasada | 1991 | Minister of State for Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas | [11] |
Jyotiraditya Scindia | 1989 | Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from Madhya Pradesh | [12] |
Arun Singh | 1960 | Minister of State for Ministry of Defence | [13] |
C.P.N Singh | 1952 | Minister of State for Ministry of Defence | [14] |
Dinesh Singh | 1943 | Foreign Minister & Commerce Minister | [15] |
Karan Singh | 1949 | Rajya Sabha member, Former Indian Ambassador to the United States | [16] |
R.P.N. Singh | 1982 | Minister for Road Transport and Highways | [17] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Naveen Patnaik | 1964 | Former Chief Minister of Odisha, earlier Lok Sabha member and cabinet minister | [18] |
Amarinder Singh | 1960 | former Chief Minister of Punjab, also Lok Sabha member | [19] |
Kamal Nath | 1964 | former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Lok Sabha member | [20] |
Lt. Gen. Ghulam Jilani Khan | 1943 | Governor of Punjab, Pakistan | [21] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Wajahat Habibullah | 1969 | Civil servant | [37] |
Parameswaran Iyer | 1977 | Civil servant; led the Swachh Bharat Mission | [38] |
Uma Shankar Bajpai | 1936 | Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to Canada | |
Vinod Kumar Grover | 1953 | Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to Netherlands | [39] |
Inder Pal Khosla | 1954 | Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to Afghanistan | [40] |
Dalip Mehta | 1958 | Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to Bhutan and Turkmenistan | [41] |
Nagendra Nath Jha | 1964 | Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ambassador to Ireland and Turkey | |
Aftab Seth | 1959 | Ambassador to Japan, Vietnam and Micronesia | [42] |
Jamsheed Marker | 1940 | Pakistan's Ambassador to nineteen countries | [43] |
Vinay Sheel Oberoi | 1972 | IAS officer; Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development | [44] |
Khursheed Marker | 1941 | Minister of Water and Power, Pakistan | [45] |
Abhinav Kumar | 1991 | IPS Officer, Director General of Police- Uttarakhand, India | [46] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Kobad Ghandy | 1969 | Communist activist | [47] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Brahma Nath Katju | 1942 | Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court | [48] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Lakshman Katre | 1944 | Air Chief Marshal, Chief of Air Staff | [49] |
B C Nanda | 1949 | Lieutenant General | [50] |
Brijesh Dhar Jayal | 1953 | Air Marshal | [51] |
Trilochan Singh Brar | 1943 | Air Marshal, Vice Chief of Air Staff | [52] |
FN Billimoria | 1952 | Lieutenant General | [53] |
Kuldip Singh Brar | 1954 | Lieutenant General | [54] |
Adi M. Sethna | 1942 | Lieutenant General | [55] |
Deepak Summanwar | 1963 | Lieutenant General | [56] |
Sukhjit Singh | 1949 | Brigadier, Maha Vir Chakra | [57] |
Bhawani Singh | 1949 | Brigadier, Maha Vir Chakra | [58] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Swaminathan Aiyar | 1960 | Editor of Financial Express, The Times of India, correspondent for The Economist | [78] |
Inderjit Badhwar | 1969 | Executive editor of India Today, writer | [79] |
Vikramaditya Chandra | 1985 | CEO, NDTV | [80] |
Prem Shankar Jha | 1965 | Editor of Hindustan Times, The Economic Times and The Financial Express | [81] |
Peter Mukerjea | 1971 | former CEO, STAR TV | [82] |
Aroon Purie | 1960 | Founder of the India Today Group | [83] |
Prannoy Roy | 1964 | Founder of NDTV | [84] |
Tejeshwar Singh | 1965 | Publisher and Newscaster | [85] |
Karan Thapar | 1971 | Broadcaster, Journalist - CNBC & CNN-IBN | [86] |
Rakesh Wahi | 1975 | Founder - CNBC Africa & Forbes Africa | [87] |
B G Verghese | 1958 | Editor of the Times of India, Magsaysay Award winner | [84] |
Abhinandan Sekhri | 1992 | CEO of Newslaundry | [88] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Shyam Bhatia | 1967 | Writer (Goodbye Shahzadi, Bullets and Bylines, Brighter Than The Baghdad Sun, "Nuclear Rivals in the Middle East) | [89] |
Pushpindar Singh Chopra | 1959 | Writer (Touching the Sky) and various other books about aviation and military history. Founder Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review. | [90] |
Mahmood Farooqui | 1990 | Writer, Artist (Besieged: Voices From Delhi 1857) | [91] |
Ramachandra Guha | 1973 | Historian, Writer (India after Gandhi) | [92] |
A. N. D. Haksar | 1950 | Writer, Scholar, Translator of Sanskrit texts | [93] |
Shiv Kunal Verma | 1976 | Writer (The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Why and The Northeast Trilogy) | [94] |
B G Verghese | 1958 | Writer, Journalist (Agenda for India) | [95] |
Amardeep Singh (independent researcher) | 1986 | Filmmaker, Writer (Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy In Pakistan and The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage - The Sikh Legacy In Pakistan) |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Vikramaditya Chandra | 1983 | Writer (The Srinagar Conspiracy) | [96] |
Amitav Ghosh | 1972 | Writer, Ibis trilogy and The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable | [97] |
Vikram Seth | 1969 | Writer, Poet (The Golden Gate, A Suitable Boy) | [92] |
Vishvjit Singh | 1964 | Writer (Kuch Shabd Kuch Lakeerein) | [92] |
Ardashir Vakil | 1978 | Writer (Beach Boy) | [98] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Sohrab Hura | 2000 | Photographer | [113] |
Anish Kapoor | 1970 | Sculptor | [114] |
Latika Katt nee Sharma | 1966 | Sculptor | [115] |
Vivan Sundaram | 1961 | Painter | [116] |
Abhishek Poddar | 1986 | Art collector; founder, Museum of Art & Photography | [117] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Martand Singh | 1962 | Textile conservator, curator, cultural historian | [118] |
Rohit Khosla | 1976 | Fashion designer | [119] |
Tarun Tahiliani | 1980 | Fashion designer | [120] |
Sandeep Khosla | 1981 | Fashion & Interior designer | [121] |
Manoviraj Khosla | 1985 | Fashion designer | [122] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur | 1987 | Filmmaker, conservator, founder of Film Heritage Foundation | [123] |
Ali Fazal | 2005 | Actor | [124] |
Sudhanshu Saria | 2004 | Screenwriter, Film director | [125] |
Ashvin Kumar | 1991 | Oscar-nominee Film director | [126] |
Rajiv Rai | 1972 | Film producer and director | [127] |
Ashwin Mushran | 1990 | Actor, Voice-over artist | [128] |
Roshan Seth | 1960 | Actor | [129] |
Imaad Shah | 2004 | Actor | [130] |
Vivaan Shah | 2008 | Actor | [131] |
Chandrachur Singh | 1986 | Actor | [132] |
Dan Dhanoa | 1974 | Actor | [133] |
Satyadeep Misra | 1991 | Actor | [134] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Himani Shivpuri (née Bhatt) | 1973 | Actor | [135] |
Rajeev Siddhartha | 2004 | Actor | [136] |
Neel Madhav | 2011 | Illusionist, Actor | [137] |
Roopak Saluja | 1993 | Ad director | [138] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Bhaskar Menon | 1972 | President, EMI Group | [3] |
Nazir Jairazbhoy | 1945 | Musicologist at University of California, Los Angeles | [139] |
Sahej Bakshi | 2005 | Electronic music composer, as "Dualist Inquiry" | [140] |
Hari Singh | 2000 | Singer, music producer, co-founder Hari & Sukhmani |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Rahul Akerkar | 1976 | Chef, restaurateur, founder of Indigo | [141] |
Deepak Nirula | 1968 | Restaurateur, founder of Nirula's | ? |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Abhinav Bindra | 2000 | Beijing Olympics 2008 Gold Medalist (Air Rifle) | [142] |
Nandu Jayal | 1942 | Mountaineer | [143] |
Bunker Roy | 1962 | National Squash Champion | [144] |
Samarjitsinh Gaekwad | 1986 | Cricketer | [145] |
Michael Dalvi | 1962 | Cricketer | [146] |
Sam Agarwal | 2009 | Cricketer | [147] |
Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Miangul Aurangzeb | 1946 | Crown prince of Swat | [148] |
Mukarram Jah | 1951 | Titular Nizam of Hyderabad (1967–1971) | [149] |
Hso Khan Pha | 1956 | Titular Saopha of Yawnghwe | [150] |
Rana Hemant Singh | 1969 | Titular Maharaja of Dholpur (1969–1971) | [151] |
Sawai Bhawani Singh | 1947 | Titular Maharaja of Jaipur (1970–71) | [152] |
Pragmulji III | ? | Titular Maharaja of Kutch (1991-2021) | [ citation needed ] |
The class years of the alumni are sourced principally from the following:
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has generic name (help)But late in the day, a new name has appeared: Doon School-educated C.P.N. Singh, 43, the Union Minister of state for defence production.
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has generic name (help)It was good to see two Doscos amongst the cast as they make their way in the world; Aditi Joshi played the bride in the first episode and Neel Madhav played Karan's younger brother in two episodes.