WE are at lunch with a bunch of demure young ladies in uniform. There is polite conversation as we eat – one cannot help but notice the almost perfect table manners of these young women who hail from as diverse places up North like Vadodara and Poona. And they are here to “learn everything under one roof” as Karthika Sokalingam who has come all the way from Sri Lanka to undergo the course, puts it.
It’s in the scenic environs of Ooty that the Good Shepherd Finishing School is set. Not the commercial, tourist-infested Ooty that most of us see – white buildings distinguish the school campus set in about 70 acres of what is called the `Palada campus’ that sits on a sloping hillside of verdant green. The air is cool and crisp.
The Palada Campus houses the junior sections of the Good Shepherd International Residential School. As classes wind up, bells ring and there’s the bustle of various activities… one group of ten year olds head to the centrally heated swimming pool as another class is cajoled out of it… some head for music class while yet some others move on to lab or computer class.
The young women we have just lunched with are the first batch of the finishing school students who have come here for a year’s learning of languages, etiquette, Home Science, personality development and more. “We tell parents `Give us a girl and take back a lady’,” says P C Thomas, founder and principal of the Good Shepherd group of institutions. He talks of the genesis of the finishing school idea. “I visited several finishing schools in Switzerland,” says he, “But none of them covered all aspects of a rounded education – that’s why we have made our finishing school academic-oriented.”
The group of girls from the first batch who are eager to tell us about their experience, not only learn the soft skills, but are taken through unexpected courses in this school. Besides piano, French, riding, self-grooming and others, they are taken trekking rock climbing and camping. First aid, repair of vehicles, parenting and pre-marriage counselling and more form the crux of their finishing process. As Shruti Agarwal of Vadodara who has completed her 12th standard in commerce says, “I have learnt independence and gained confidence. It is difficult to learn things in a small town like Vadodara. And this course is giving me a lot of exposure.” Shruti has plans to go on to learn accessory designing in London.
“Do you know, none of these girls have the TV watching habit?” says Tulsi Bhatia, Dean of the Finishing School, “All of them have developed the reading habit.” Tulsi goes on to tell us that there have been many add-ons in the course that had not been envisaged before. “Reiki and meditation, the making of cocktails and mocktails…” Tulsi laughs as she says, “We are also learning with them.” The girls have also undergone a horticulture workshop where they were taught how to grow mushrooms and distill aromatic oil.
What seems like an eclectic basket of activities make for an interesting year of study, as the girls say. Ann, a chemical engineer from Thailand, took a year off from work to undergo the course. “I wanted to learn English and more,” says she. Akshaya, who hopes to go on to do IPS or fashion designing.
We throw a question at the girls. “Do any of you aim at getting into a beauty pageant?” There are a few quizzing looks, the others shake their heads emphatically. “No, no,” they all murmur. A little probing, and almost all the girls tell us of ambitions other than those pertaining to beauty. We say almost, since Munira has already told us that she would want to do an MBA and then perhaps graduate in make-up and hairstyling. Still, ramp-walking does not seem to be an ambition, as yet.
“We encourage them to be better individuals,” says P C Thomas, when we talk to him later, “We want them to become good women, good daughters, good mothers and finally, good daughters-in-law.” He goes on to say that the girls are being groomed to take on life in the modern scenario with confidence.
“Most people do not know what a finishing school really is,” emphasises Thomas. While traditional finishing schools stop with etiquette, grooming and social skills, Good Shepherd hopes to take the concept further, in accordance with the needs of the present. In that sense, the school is also attempting to battle misconceptions regarding `finishing schools’ – of merely imparting `social skills’ to `society women’. “We want to go beyond that – expose the girls to a whole variety of skills and experiences,” says he.
The school is planning to expand the premises of the finishing school in anticipation of a larger batch of girls the next year. “We expect about 50 girls in the coming academic year,” says Tulsi Bhatia.
The school will shift into the Baroda Palace Campus(once a royal summer retreat) of the Good Shepherd School, that now houses the classes and the dorms of the higher secondary. But at the moment the first little group of `young ladies’ are gearing up to face exciting futures. But not until their one year at the finishing school is done.
The Good Shepherd Finishing School can be contacted at Ootacamund 643004, ph:423-255037, 550491, 550492; email:info@gsfs-ooty.org
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