Hindu Higher Secondary School
| Hindu Higher Secondary School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
Triplicane Chennai, Tamil Nadu India | |
| Information | |
| Motto | Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam, Brahma |
| Established | 1852 |
| Alumni | See below |
| Nobel laureates | Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar |
The Hindu Higher Secondary School (HHSS), located on Big Street, Triplicane, Chennai, India, is one of the oldest secondary schools in South India, having been established in 1852. The school was founded at a time when many parents were reluctant to send their children to schools managed and run by the British, in this case, the English East India Company.
History
The schools roots are in two boys' schools in the Triplicane area of Madras, the Dravida Pathasala (Pathasala means school in Sanskrit) for Tamil boys and the Hindu Balura Pathsala for Telugu boys. In 1860, these two Pathsalas were merged, the new entity being named the "Triplicane Andhra Dravida Balura Pathasala". The school was later again renamed "The Triplicane Anglo-Vernacular High School". Finally, in 1897, the school’s name was changed to "Hindu High School".[1]
The building
Construction of a large school building was completed in 1897, the L-shaped red brick building having been designed by the architect Henry Irwin. The three-storey building was constructed by Namberumal Chetty, on a plot of 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2). Wide and broad verandas and big windows ensured proper ventilation, while high ceilings and rows of arches imparted an imposing look to the school building. With additional construction done over a period of time, the building is now T-shaped.[1]
During 1955 to 1961, I, J. Sethuraman, studied in this school from Vi Form to SSLC. During that period the Head Master was Sri. Tp Srinivasa Varadhan. He was invited in an Echange program to study high school education in United Kingdom. The Assistant head Master was Sri. Sowri Raja Iyengar. The mathematics maestro were Sri. T. S Rajagopalan, Sri. R. Srinivasan. My Class teacher was Sri. S D Krishnan. Mr. S Swaminathan and Sri Narayanaswamy were the Science teachers. Later, Sri. Seetharaman, Sri Subbachar, Sri Pitchumani joined and strengthened the faculty. My younger brother J Jayaraman had the distinction of getting the General Proficiency consecutively from VI Form to SSLC. It was a record. I was a member of Sri Rama Scout Group and Sri. Ventatesa Sarma was in-carhe for this extra curricular activity. Sri Bhuvanesh was the coach for this group. We went on camps to Karuguzhi, Thiruvallur, Chenji and Kanchipuram. It was a pleasant trips. The famous actor Sri. S V Ranga Rao once was a special invitee for the school annual function. Every month all students section by section were exposed to short films and the Engineering Master was in- charge for this program. We watched pre-historic animals now know as animals lived in Jurassic age. A special mention about Sri. R Srinivasan. He was a great teacher of mathematics and motivated the students. I developed interest in mathematics because of his teaching. I retired from the American College, Madurai as a physics professor and taught mathematical physics. The years of stdy in Hindu High School. Triplicane remain green in my and in the memories of my brothers.
Notable alumni
- G. N. Balasubramaniam, Carnatic vocalist [2]
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Prize–winning astrophysicist.
- Kamal Haasan, actor and filmmaker [3]
- S. V. Ranga Rao, actor and filmmaker [3]
References
- 1 2 "The Hindu : Presidency's feeder". hindu.com. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ↑ "G.N. BALASUBRAMANIAM (1910-1965), A genius and a pathbreaker". Sruti magazine. December 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- 1 2 "Old boys recall their school days". The Hindu. September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
External links
Coordinates: 13°03′40″N 80°16′49″E / 13.061157°N 80.280147°E