We thought it would be good to include these few words on this wonderful site, where we like to go every year, to meet all the Indian godchildren of our French sponsors. You too can do the same, by accompanying us next summer. Visit our website in the travel section.
KODAIKANAL is one of the most authentic hill stations in southern India. From its many hotels to its golf course , everything is “So British”. Kadai, as people who know what they are talking about say among themselves, is a city of more than 40,000 inhabitants, very popular with Indians of a certain social level, for its climate, its golf course, its lake with its many activities. nautical, its many schools (paying) attended by the children of the most upscale “middle class” of the country and finally by its international school, very well known in the peninsula, it is in a way and with some caveats, an Indian Eton which is practically accessible, like its English brother, only to the wealthiest class of the nation.
We must note that this city built by the English in the 19th century at 2000 meters above sea level, very popular in summer, by the inhabitants of the plain, because of its climate, was, and this from the start destined to become a great center of education and teaching.
Indeed, one of the greatest ladies of modern pedagogy, Doctor Maria MONTESSORI made a forced stay there for five years. When the second war broke out Maria MONTESSORI was at the Theosophical Center in Madras (now Chennai); as she was an Italian citizen, de facto, she
endorsed the status of prisoner and was sent by the English under house arrest, until the end of the war, in Kodaikanal.
His memory over the years has faded among the population, but his methods have had a lasting impact on the education and teaching of schools in the city.
Be careful, in India more than elsewhere, you have to know how to distance yourself, let’s not forget that for a Hindu (this word refers to religion while Indian indicates nationality) reality is only an illusion.
Indeed, around this island, very bourgeois, which we have just mentioned, we should not forget these thousands of human beings who live or rather who try to survive daily misery. Let’s not forget that the salary of a coolie (porter), which is the most common professional activity, is less than 35 euros per month.