The Innovator Who Transformed The Concept Of Boarding Schools

Mr. Gaurav Garg- Director, Shri Ram Centennial School, Dehradun

Gaurav Garg, a renowned Indian business leader, philanthropist and educational entrepreneur from Dehradun, Uttrakhand, is also a well-recognized Educationist and the founder of ‘Shri Ram Centennial School, Dehradun’. Awarded with ‘Nation builder award’ in 2017, Gaurav is also the proud founder of ‘VHD Group’, which is the Hotel chain and Infrastructure Development company. A graduate in computer software engineering, Gaurav decided to give back to his hometown after a 2 years stint of leadership roles in the IT Industry, Bangalore. His desire of adding value to the lives of people in Dehradun got fulfilled when he set up a world class school in Dehradun. Choosing an easier path could be an alternative for him, but he chose the challenging path as he believed that meaningful school education is where one can really impact the society constructively. Envisioning his dream of building quality human resource, he put his energy and ideas into developing the ethical leaders and role-models for tomorrow.

Gaurav finds inclination towards reading, painting and is a Soccer and Table Tennis player. Having travelled across the globe, Gaurav has also attended numerous workshops and leadership programmes, including the Round Square Conference in Mayo College, Ajmer. Truly inspired by his grandfather- Late Shri Om Prakash Garg, Gaurav has been influenced by his approach to life with simplicity and wisdom to value human relations and worth. “He has taught me never to forget one’s ground realities”, shares Gaurav and reflects one of his grandfather’s teachings, “It’s easy to become proud & arrogant but difficult to be humble and grounded”. He admits to his grandfather’s teachings to have become more relevant in this high-tech age of gadgets and artificial intelligence. On this note, Gaurav recalls how his grandfather taught him to be a leader rather than a boss.

Gaurav Garg, member of numerous Social and religious organizations, is actively involved in many social and religious activities. An honorary member of ‘CII Uttrakhand chapter’, Gaurav comes from a business and sound financial background, which can be tempting to challenge the status quo of a smooth and comfortable life, but coming out of his shadows, he created his own identity which required a new beginning and reinventing his own self. Gaurav shares, “Familiarizing myself with unchartered territory with uncertainty and risk, was a challenge for me”.

He discloses that the real challenge in education is to be different yet relevant and this is where constant experimentation and toying with new ideas drive you to break new grounds. Gaurav adds, “21st century education and its pertinence in the Indian context require enormous customization to suit our needs”. Ascertaining the fact that they embrace global perspective without losing our their cultural significance, Gaurav highlights that risks and failures are an inseparable part of the journey, and considers them as the price of success. He stresses to build constant communication with all the stakeholders to make the journey collaborative.
Realizing the dearth of Day boarding- a model which provides sufficient time and space for imparting holistic character based education, in a small town popular for K-12 Education, had been an innovative proposal. In today’s scenario where both parents work, the necessity to develop a response to this new age requires the environment where children could spend their entire day in the care of a well-off academic and co-curricular opportunity based institution, to channel and nurture the immense productive potential of students, and this way he introduced the first day boarding cum residential school in Dehradun.

The award winner of ‘Best Day Boarding & Residential School in Dehradun’ by ‘India Education Awards 2019’ and 4th position holder in ‘North Boarding School Challengers‘ by ‘Times School Survey 2018’, Mr. Gaurav Garg is a person who can maintain his calm even under the most challenging situations, which is a trait he imbibed from his late grandfather. The ‘HNN Education Excellence Award’ winner for ‘Best Day Boarding & Residential School in Uttrakhand’, Gaurav is a people’s person who strongly believes in the dignity and respect of every individual. He immensely believes in teamwork and always strives for the best. He has also bagged the ‘Best Principal Award’ by ‘Divya Himgiri’ in joint collaboration with ‘State Law Commission, Government of Uttrakhand’ and ‘Uttrakhand Human Right Protection Centre’. Another laurel won by Mr. Gaurav Garg for Shri Ram Centennial School, Dehradun is the 8th rank in Uttrakhand, 6th in Dehradun as a co-ed Day-cum-Boarding School, by the ‘Education World India School Rankings 2019-2020’.