A father’s dream and a star cricketer’s good intentions to give something back to the society resulted in Sehwag International School (SIS) situated in Jhajjar district of Haryana. It’s Virender Sehwag, who founded the SIS in 2011 to fulfill the promise he made to his late father. “The school was Viru’s idea because it was his father’s dream,” Sehwag’s wife Aarti, who is also the Chairperson of the school, said.
“When Viru was a child, he used to travel a lot to get all the facilities for playing cricket and his school was in Najafgarh. So my father-in-law used to see how his child was struggling for both education and sport. He said to Viru ‘if you become a successful cricketer someday then please have a school of your own so that children can have all the facilities under one roof’,” she added.
Over the years it also became Sehwag’s own dream. “How do you give back to the societyIJ” he asked. “When you are capable of doing something for the society, it becomes your duty. And, I think, putting your money in school is a good idea because you are providing a facility where children can get education, which is the best gift that you can give to them,” Sehwag said.
The SIS is different from other schools. Apart from being day-cum-boarding school, the school puts equal emphasis on academics, extra-curricular activities and sports. The school boasts of a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved cricket ground, besides facilities for athletics, basketball, badminton, equestrian, football, golf, lawn tennis, table tennis, all-weather swimming pool and squash at its sprawling 23-acre campus.
“The Haryana Government gave me the land and I’m thankful to Bhupendra Singh Hooda, the Chief Minister of Haryana. He promised me when I scored a triple century he would give me land for a cricket academy. I requested him to give me land for academy and school so that children can stay there and do both the things,” he said.
Sehwag feels sports help improve students’ concentration level which helps them in their studies. “Sports teaches you discipline and dedication. If you want play a sport, you have to disciplined and you have to have passion for the sport. If you’ve all those attributes, then it’ll help in your education. Your concentration level goes up,” he said. First two years of the school have been quite satisfactory for both Mr and Mrs Sehwag as they saw the number of students rising to 370 in such a short period. “I was surprised to see the number of students that came to our school in the first year,” Sehwag said.
“It may be my name that the parents trusted, that it’s Virender Sehwag’s school so the quality of education and sports would be good and sent their children to our school. Now, I think, they are satisfied and spreading the word in the neighbourhood that our children are going to SIS and they are very happy. So I’m lucky in that sense,” he added. The SIS expects an intake of around 150 students in the academic year 2014-15.