Every summer vacation, schools empty out for at least a month, but imagine a school that emptied out for six months every summer as the classes shifted to a cooler Shimla.
The Harcourt Butler Senior Secondary School on Mandir Marg that turns 100 this month functioned from both New Delhi and Shilmla till 1939. The school that was attended mainly by the children of government employees would shift to Shimla as the British government would shift the seat of the administration to the city during the summer months.
The practice continued till in 1939 when the World War-II started and economic constrains forced the government to stop the shifting process. Students of the school have participated in the Quit India Movement and marched towards Gole Market from Mandir Marg, then called Reading Road.
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Krishna Kumar Bhargava, the President of the school’s alumni association, said that to celebrate a century of the landmark educational institution, ‘Bulterians’ from over the years will gather in the Capital. “The school has a rich history and distinguished alumni making a mark in various fields. It will be an occasion to remember as very few British-era schools continue to thrive in the city today,” he said.