History and Traditions
- Mayo's first student, H.H. Maharaja Mangal Singh of Alwar, arrived at the school gates in October 1875 on the back of an elephant accompanied by 300 retainers and a menagerie of tigers, camels and horses.
- One of the school's traditions is meeting for tea in the lawns known as Mughal Gardens immediately after the Annual Prizegiving ceremony; it is believed that M.N. Kapur (who went on to become one of Modern School New Delhi's most respected and beloved principals) did away with using a rope to divide English guests and Indian guests at this ceremony.
- The Annual Prizegiving, one of the oldest ceremonies at Mayo, has seen chief guests including Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmford, governor general of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, ex-president of India, HH Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, HH Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Dr Zakir Hussain, ex-president of India, Dr Karan Singh, Indira Gandhi, ex-prime minister of India, field marshal Sam Manekshaw, H.H. Sayyid Faher Bin Taimur of Oman, HM Birendra Shah, King of Nepal, Sardar Khushwant Singh, HH Madhavrao Scindia, Sir Peter Ustinov, Jaswant Singh and LK Advani.
- Other traditions at Mayo include an annual horseback parade by the students and sporting fixtures between Old Boys and current students (including a polo match).
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Famous quotes containing the words history and/or traditions:
“History is the present. That’s why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.”
—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
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