Leh-post cloudburst-story-3- the Durk school famous as "Rancho's school"

ONTOURS OF CALAMITY
Aamir Khan reaches out to damaged ‘3 Idiots’ school
Jupinderjit Singh writes from Leh


The computer lab of the school inundated by slush. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

Bollywood star Aamir Khan today finally managed to call up Prasad Eledath, principal of “Rancho’s School”, five days after the school made famous by the “3 Idiots” movie was destroyed due to the cloudburst in Leh.

The school principal told The Tribune team that Aamir Khan had offered all kind of help. “We are yet to make a proper evaluation of the damage caused and the funds required to reconstruct it. Aamir Khan has asked me to tell him what is required and it will be done. The telephone call came at 10 am today.”

As one reaches the school, 25 km from the Leh crossing, a couple of rivulets, which have suddenly resurfaced, and several speed-breakers of mud, the first thing one notices is that it is not Rancho’s school. It is actually called Durk White Lotus School. “We are quite sensitive about the name of the school. True, the movie has made it world famous. About 25 to 75 tourists come here daily to see it where Aamir Khan (Rancho) and his students were inventing one thing after another and especially the wall where ‘Chaturlingam’ got electric shocks.”

The school should be known by its original name, as it existed since 1999, much before Aamir Khan shot his film here, the principal insisted.

The other thing that strikes you as you reach here is that the school has disappeared. It rather looks like an excavation site, with volunteers, students and staff all trying to clear mud from practically all rooms and the campus. At the very entrance of the school there lies one computer terminal, all covered in mud, as if telling what to expect in the building.

Go further in; the computer lab having 40 computers is one big heap of mud, with only four computers visible. The condition of the first floor of the library is the same, so is the principal’s office and all classrooms. The pavement, the gardens, the floors, the walkways, all lie covered in several feet of mud.

The school, which had won many awards like Best Green School, Best Earthquake Resistant Building, Best Education School and Best Asian Building, had taken care of fire, earthquakes, and practically every disaster they could think of. But, ironically, it had no idea about flash floods and cloudbursts.

“We have to think about it now when we will reconstruct the school. There was a seasonal stream running down the hill in the rear of the school. It flowed a couple of hundreds of metres away from the school boundary but on that night, as the cloud burst, massive torrents of water and mud overwhelmed the school.

“I was sleeping in my home situated close to the school when someone raised the alarm about the gushing water. As I along with hostel warden Kamal Thakur rushed to the school, we saw water and mud all around. The two dormitories of the girl’s hostel were rendered asunder by a violent stream of water that brought with it huge rocks and boulders.

Thakur said as there was no power supply. “We switched on the headlights of a couple of cars and saw children perched on a wall. With great difficulty we made them jump into our laps and fortunately no one was injured.”

Singay, a Class VI student, was so fear-stricken that it took her a lot of courage to jump over the wall to safety.

The school founded by the 12th Gyalwanag Trukpa has 550 students with 55:45 ratio in favour of girls. Of the total strength 76 were present in the school today. The school started nursery and LKG classes in 2000. “Now, the highest class is the eighth standard,” the principal told.

When will the school start functioning again? The principal has his fingers crossed. “I think Class VIII will start from Thursday, but it will depend on how many students attend classes. We are looking at restarting the school in phases,” he said.

It would require huge funds and engineering to restore this special school to its earlier form. “We have no plan or need to shift it,” the principal said. The school imparts a unique blend of modern and traditional Buddhist education.