Interview with Professor Kanti Bajpai

Note: Professor Kanti Bajpai(264-T '72) will be taking over as headmaster of The Doon School upon Mr. John Mason's retirement in June 2003.

Tell us a little bit about your years before Doon?
I am a “foreign service brat”, so I spent quite a number of years outside India with my parents, particularly the early years. I went to primary school in Paris and London in the early 1960s (I left London a month before the 1966 World Cup!). My parents then sent me back to India to St. Xavier’s School, Delhi.For a variety of family reasons, I joined Doon only as a B former in 1970.

After the ISC in 1972, I followed my father to Canada, where he was High Commissioner. I was due to come back to St. Stephen’s College to do an Honours in Economics, but my Stephanian father (ex 41 H, 1935-37) thought that enough Bajpais had idled away their years at “Mission College” (!), and so I stayed on at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, where I did both a Bachelor’s in Economics and a Master’s in Political Science.

I had wanted to come back to teach at Doon, and so in 1979 contacted Col. Eric Simeon, who had been HM in my last two years at School. By the time I got to India, Gulab Ramchandani had taken over as HM. At Doon (1980-81), I taught English (D form) and Economics (S form).

In 1982, I went back to North America to do a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, under Professor Stephen P. Cohen (presently at the Brookings Institution). In 1989, I returned to teach at the Maharajah Sayajirao University of Baroda (MSU), in the Department of Political Science.

I left MSU in 1992 to teach for a semester at Wesleyan University, did a summer at SIPA in Columbia University, and then went back to Illinois for a year (1992-93), before returning to India to be a Resident Fellow at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi.

In 1994, I joined JNU to teach International Relations. I spent a year or so in the US in 2000-1, as a Visiting Fellow at the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame and at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. Most recently, I was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra (May-June 2002).

What made you join the Doon School?
I presume you mean what made me join Doon as a student.

" My father was the first School Captain. Both his brothers and my elder brother went to Doon."

My family had all gone to Doon. My father was the first School Captain. Both his brothers and my elder brother went to Doon. It just seemed fairly “natural” to go there. I might still not have gone except that the boarding facilities at St. Xavier’s were to close in 1969. My father had lost track of how far along I was in my schooling but suddenly woke up to the fact that he had promised to send me to Doon!

The School very graciously agreed to take me in the B form! I suppose his being the first School Captain may have played a role in this. Equally, it may have been the fact that he was not in India. The School may have appreciated that it was difficult for him to school me anywhere else at that stage.

Did you enjoy studying at Doon?
I loved it! Need I say more?

What about Doon did you like the most?
I liked the fact that there was a range of activities at School, that the relationship with the teachers was informal and friendly, that there were few physical punishments (for the most part), that we went out on midterm expeditions which were quite challenging, and that the School had its own language and lore.

I was quite a shy person when I came to Doon. The debates, plays, and speech contests as well as the captaincies, all these made me a more extroverted and public person. I developed capabilities at Doon that my school in England and St. Xavier’s in Delhi had not developed.

I loved the Library (which was in the Main Building in those days). Sunday mornings in the Library were fantastic. Talking about books and politics and other quite serious things to people like Amitav Ghosh, Gautam Mukhopadhaya, Lakshman Menon, Vinay Oberoi, Ram Guha, and Karan Thapar (ex J), among others, is a great memory.

I hate to admit it but there was one other thing I loved at School: the cross-country runs! I once astonished myself by coming in 12th or thereabouts!

" I think the most troubling thing at School was that those who were not sports or extracurricular “stars” were overlooked."

What parts of Doon did you not enjoy?
I think the most troubling thing at School was that those who were not sports or extracurricular “stars” were overlooked. There had to be “room” for these students. There were times when that clearly was not the case. Those who were individualistic in quiet, un-regarded ways were not always made to feel at home. I understood these things better towards the end of my time at Doon, more so after I had left School and looked back on my time there.

Oh yes: I most definitely did not enjoy the cold water baths in Tata House! Nor was washing prefectorial socks the best way to spend early Sunday mornings!

What did you teach at Doon and for how long?
As I said, I taught English to the D formers and Economics to the S formers. I was reminded by one of my former students that whereas I thought I taught them Economics, their memory was somewhat different! They thought the word “taught” was an overstatement!!

Devajyoti “Doc” Ghose had “tricked” me into teaching Economics at Doon. He was on his way to the Delhi School of Economics for a couple of years, and the School suddenly needed a replacement for him. I thought I was coming to teach English in a leisurely kind of way (as Old Boys often do). When I got to Chandbagh, I found myself staring at a rather skeptical and noisy group of S form economics students!

I believe the batch didn’t do too badly—thanks mostly to Doc on his return and Sunil Bahri (who, by the way, called me just the other day to relive some of those adventurous days)!

Did you enjoy teaching at Doon and what do you remember most about it?
I enjoyed it thoroughly. I remember classroom times very well but also the extracurricular times. I did the School play in 1981, a Peter Shafer play by the name of “The Royal Hunt of the Sun”, which is a great play. It involved about 100 students. I remember Rupin Jayal (1982) in the lead role and Vijay Prashad (now an academic in the US) very well in it, but also many others.

I remember friendships on the staff too—Arun Kapur, Sumer Singh, Sunil Bahri, Doc Ghose, Sarvesh Naidu; and of course it was wonderful to be on the same side of the desk as some of my former teachers—Shiel Vohra, Charlie Kandhari, Amarnath Dar, RP, Bhuvan Vaishnav.

Gulab Ramchandani was the HM. His son, Vivek, was a batch mate of mine at Doon, and the HM would often invite my wife and I as well as other colleagues over for a coffee after dinner, which was lovely for a young teacher settling in at Doon. I remember those evenings with great fondness—we discussed a lot of things about education and the School, and I learned a lot.

I remember coming back in the second term (January 1981) having just got married and living with my wife in Mrs. Masani’s old rooms in Jaipur House where I was a tutor. We shared the two-room set with a young Englishman, Bob Banks, who taught Chemistry. To get to the bathroom that we shared, Bob had to walk through our bedroom! He would hum loudly and tunelessly before he strode in, so that we could prepare ourselves for his dash across the room! He was terribly nice (I wonder what happened to him). He would always say “Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup” in agreement while you spoke to him and would shake his head from side to side, Indian style! He once threw a noisy fancy dress party in his room to which we went in various guises. The HM very sportingly came, and we all danced until midnight!

Why did you apply for the position of headmaster?
And so to the more serious stuff.

I applied for the headmastership because I love the School, because I believe in its role as a liberal educational institution, because I think that secondary education is as important as tertiary (if not more) and want to play a role in education at that level, because after 13 years in university education this seems more challenging to me, and because, to be frank, I wanted my family to see and experience something other than metropolitan life in Delhi.

" I am very interested in the community life of the School as well—the relationship between the boys, teachers, non-teaching staff, and the HM, as well as the families who are also part of the Chandbagh community."

What part of the job of being headmaster interests you the most?
Every part of being HM interests me! I don’t think it can be any other way. But if I had to pick particular areas of interest, I would say that they are: broadening the curriculum, modernizing the classroom, and raising academic standards even further. I won’t say too much more at present because these are quite serious matters and must be discussed thoroughly with the Board, with my colleagues on the teaching staff, and others.

I am very interested in the community life of the School as well—the relationship between the boys, teachers, non-teaching staff, and the HM, as well as the families who are also part of the Chandbagh community. It has always been a well-knit, informal community—are there things to be done here, nonetheless? The School’s relationship to Dehra Dun is vital. Should we not know more about the town, its history, society, and cultures?

Does anything in your career prepare you particularly well to be headmaster?
Anything I say here could be held against me! I suppose the Board of Governors should answer this one!

Anyhow, here goes with some thoughts:

First, my international experience—I have studied, taught, or conducted research in India, England, Canada, the US, and, most lately, albeit very briefly, Australia. Incidentally, working not just in academia but also in policy institutes/think tanks has been an asset (the Centre for Policy Research, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, and Brookings). You have to shed your nice white professorial coat and place your feet firmly in the real world now and then! In these globalizing times, this mix of experiences is an advantage I bring to the job.

Second, I have had a fairly varied teaching career within India. I have taught not just in Dehra Dun, but also in Baroda and Delhi. I have therefore lived and worked in three different parts of India. Over the years, I have traveled quite extensively within India as an academic, attending conferences and giving lectures. I think that this more national experience is important for Doon, which must attract students and teachers from all over the country.

Third, there are two aspects of my JNU career that I should mention here: one, I have twice served as Chairperson of my Centre; and, two, I have been a Warden of a men’s hostel for the past 9 years. Working with colleagues and students, often in very challenging circumstances, in a university renowned for its political activism and consciousness, have taught me things that should serve me well as HM. I understand that a big part of leading is taking others along.

Last, and by no means least, I have taught as a professional teacher in the classroom for thirteen years. I am no stranger to young people and the enterprise of learning. While school-going youngsters and the learning challenges are different at the secondary level, I have had a lot of classroom experience that should hold me in good stead. Above all, what I have learned from those 13 years is that I like young people and (I think) get on well with them.

Do you think the Doon all-round education is still relevant, practical and competitive today?
Yes. In an increasingly complex world, I would argue that there is an even greater premium on a well-rounded education at the school level. There is the rest of your life to specialize—and you may have no choice, as the years go by, but to know “more and more about less and less”! School is the last time you can be a “renaissance” man or woman.

" What does well-rounded mean today? I think it means a certain kind of worldliness. The Doon School student must know more about the world."

Having said that, the question we shall have to address is: what does well-rounded mean today? I think it means a certain kind of worldliness. The Doon School student must know more about the world. One of the things I want the School to consider is introducing global studies into the curriculum. I also think there is place for philosophy in the School curriculum.

The other thought here is: should we not be more “professional” about the extracurricular activities and sports? Is there not place for more scientific approaches to these parts of the School’s curriculum? For example, do we need to invest in sports medicine and professional coaching? I am not quite sure of the answer, but I do intend to raise the issue.

What special role (if any) should Doon play in India?
The Doon School, as the cliché goes, should be the best that it can be. Where innovation in education is needed, it must innovate. Above all, its role is to stand for excellence in thought and a commitment to civic responsibility. I cannot think of a better role for the School than encouraging critical thinking and molding responsible “global Indian citizens” (people who are good citizens of India and the world). Many schools share this commitment. If Doon plays a role in advancing that general cause, I, at any rate, would be most proud.

Do you think Doon deserves the media attention it gets?
The Doon School understands that it will get a certain amount of media attention, at least intermittently. I don’t think that in this media age we should expect any real diminution of that attention. Of course, there will be good days and bad days in this regard. In the end, there are checks and balances in the media. I would not say that Doon has had more bad press than good. No institution in a democracy can and should be completely beyond public scrutiny.

Do you think Doon will be able to continue to produce illustrious leaders like it has in the past?
What is interesting about the School is that it has produced illustrious people in different walks of life. Very often when we think about illustriousness, we focus on Rajiv Gandhi who went on to become Prime Minister. Of course, the School is proud of that fact. We sometimes forget, though, that there are many other illustrious Old Boys—in the arts and letters, in science and technology, in the civil services and armed forces, in business and public life, in sports and entertainment. I have no doubt that the School will continue to produce men and women of distinction.

Should the alumni be active with the school and if so how?

" The alumni are a school’s great reserve and strength. The alumni collectively know the School better than anyone else. That does not mean they are always right. Nor is it the case that the School is always right. The two must work together and talk to each other."

Of course! If I didn’t think so, I would not be on Doon Online! The existential reality in any case is that the alumni is involved, no ifs or buts.

The alumni are a school’s great reserve and strength. The alumni collectively know the School better than anyone else. That does not mean they are always right. Nor is it the case that the School is always right. The two must work together and talk to each other. Running the School is a coalitional effort, frankly. It involves IPSS, the Board of Governors, the HM and his colleagues, the non-teaching staff, and, importantly, the Old Boys. Each of these groups has their niche.

The alumni can (and do) contribute in many ways: ideas, information, influence, memories, values, skills, energies, resources (including money!), and, of course, their children as future students.

I hope the alumni will get on the net or write to the School, or tell me and my colleagues personally what they want to do and what they think of the directions the School takes from time to time. We will take these interventions seriously.

Tell us a bit about your research focus and the books you’ve written.
This is the single most dangerous thing you can ever say to an academic because he or she is likely to take you at your word, and you will never get away!!!!!!!!

So let me clear my throat and begin!

My research areas are international relations theory, security studies, South Asian politics, and Indian foreign and security policy. I have co-authored one book (Brasstacks and Beyond: Perception and Management of Crisis), single authored one (Roots of Terrorism), and am trying to finish the following: Nuclear Weapons and Security; Indian Strategic Thought; and Human Security in India (with Amitabh Mattoo). These latter three books I hope to finish while I am at Doon, in the next couple of years.

The Doon School Weekly in its profile of me very generously put me down as the author of several other books! Actually, those are co-edited books, mostly on Indian foreign policy themes (e.g. The Peacock and the Dragon: India-China Relations in the 21st Century, etc.). In the late summer of 2003, a student of mine and I will publish another edited book which I hope will be quite an important book for Indian international relations scholars. It is called International Relations Theory in India: An Anthology of Recent Writings.

For the longer term, I am interested in two things: Indian international thought in the modern period, i.e. from Ram Mohun Roy onwards; and an international history of the Indian subcontinent which would look at South Asia as an “international society” with its particular norms, rules, and practices. I am interested in how various political realms in the subcontinent related to each other historically—in other words, the diplomatic and strategic world before colonialism.

That is as brief as it gets from an academic!

Discuss the interview and his appointment in Virtual Doon.

You’ve worked both in India and abroad, which do you prefer and why?
I have enjoyed living and working both in India and abroad. North America was a wonderful home for about 20 years, off and on. But India was home, plain and simple. I was a foreign service brat, as I said, and I grew up in an embassy milieu and all that that meant about country and home. Professionally, I feel I make more of a difference in India. That is not necessarily true for everyone, and I respect the choices of others entirely. It is true for me, though.

I love working in India. The personal rewards are enormous, and I have felt rewarded in many ways over the past thirteen years. I also, though, feel comfortable and energized here in a way that I don’t experience abroad. My family is almost all settled in India—my parents, my brother, my sister. Many of my School friends live and work in India. What I do here, I feel, has an impact that it could not have abroad. After all, who cares about South Asian and Indian issues as much as South Asians and Indians!

Are you planning to continue writing and speaking while being headmaster?
I plan to write longer things—books, primarily—in the areas I talked about earlier. I don’t think, though, that I shall write much in the press anymore or contribute to other people’s books and to journals. I will also not appear on television any more. I don’t rule out those things completely, but on the whole I feel it is time for a different rhythm and pace and role.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself or the school?
I think I have probably said enough! See you all in Chandbagh!