Rupy's International School, Part 1

Photo: Jan Salter, Rupinder Singh, Ching van der Veen, Darshan Singh.

Flashback, 1982: I remember well, The Children’s Castle. It was on the same side of the road leading to Tika Box, where I frequented to buy expired or surplus Italian Dressing and English biscuits which were donated by the Kathmandu PX: the manager at that time was a Brit, who did not exactly purchase items that were popular with the Americans residing there. The USAID office, an old Rana palace called Rabi Bhavan, was at the end of the road. Lincoln School, and the current Nepal Academy for Hotel and Tourism Management, are also on this road. I guess Tika Box used to be a chowkidar post for the palace.

Ching van der Veen invited a number of us to celebrate the opening of the international pre-school, of which she was the Principal. Max Levy, husband of Pamela Levy, the Deputy Resident Representative for Administration at UNDP, spent some time there doing their accounts and sports program on a volunteer basis. Mrs. Jane Niwa, was Chairman of the Board at the school during her husband’s term as UNDP Resident Representive. (By the way, Jane now teaches at an international school in Kuala Lumpur while Toshi has retired. I learned about this from Peter van Laere, who is currently head of Administration at ESCAP Bangkok, and was Special Assistant to Toshi when he was assigned in New York).

The school prospered. In 1996, Rupinder Singh, the Founder Director, re-opened it as Rupy’s International School, and included Primary Level, and eventually Lower Secondary Level. In 1998, the school moved to the present location in Baphal, Tahachal. It is situated on eight ropanis of land (one acre) offering a large space for Pre-school and Primary play area, a parking area and a football field.
In November 2009, the school celebrated its 27th anniversary held at Nepal Academy Hall on November 29 was inaugurated by Nepali movie star Rajesh Hamal.The students prepared a program which included Nepali medley dances, Maruni and folk dances performance attired in daura surwal, and playing maadal, flute and sarangi while some 15 girls dressed in guniyo cholo. Orchestral numbers were performed like Phoolko aakhama phoolai sansara, and Simsime panima.

How did this successful international school start, in Kathmandu? Here is the story:

There are over about 80 Sikh families reside in Kathmandu, many of them in Kupondol, close to the Gurudwara Temple. Sikh followers wear what are called “the five Ks”—kanga, kachchha, kada, kirpan, kesh—and were committed to believe in one god and the oneness of all humanity, forgetting differences among men and women. “It is this belief that has made it possible for Sikhs all over to adapt easily to new environs and to spread all over,” says Rupy Singh, a pioneer of pre-school education in Nepal.

Before the family bought a part interest in the new Modern Indian School in Kathmandu in 1978, the Sikh community was devoted almost exclusively to the transport business. In fact, no other community had any significant part in this sector, and an entire generation of Nepalis learnt to drive trucks and buses, and to clean and maintain vehicles under Sikhs.

Increasingly, younger Nepali Sikhs like Rupy and Darshan’s children, are opting out of the transportation business and heading west for MBAs, PhDs and IT training. (To be continued in Part 2)