In the current mood of despair about education in India being put on the back burner, it is heartening to read Rakesh Batbayal’s book The Modern School (1920-2020), which inspires and provokes us to think about the primacy of education in imagining India’s nation building project. It is a story full of memories and nostalgia, one of extraordinary commitment, dedication and relentless hard work that helped establish a proud and enduring institution.
The exceptional quality of the book is in the narration of the history of Modern School and its inextricable link to the history of Delhi and vice-versa. We are