Stokes Memorial School, situated amidst the fields of the village of Pujarli, six kilometers from the outskirts of Shimla, is a co-educational day school which caters to a healthy mix of urban and rural students. The school was set up in 2004 with the aim of creating an institution which would avoid the pitfalls of undue pressure and rote learning, while nurturing curiosity and independence in its
students. The Inspiration: The school is named after Shri Satyanand Stokes who came from a distinguished and affluent American family and adopted India and its people as his own. His contributions ranged from working in a leprosy asylum at the age of twenty one, to fighting for the rights of the hill people during the 'begar' movement, to being jailed during the Independence struggle. His role as an educationist is less well known. In his early years he ran and financially supported one of the oldest schools in the state. In later years he ran a free school for the locals village children in his own estate. Mahatma Gandhi described him as "the veritable guide, philosopher and friend of the hill men." Our Society has named the school after him in the hope of providing the kind of empowering which might produce some much-needed independent thinkers and courageous "doers".
