JB PETIT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Manish Modi
A
Established in 1865
5 Napier Road
Fort
Mumbai 400001
Email: ad...@jbpetithighschool.com
Website: www.jbpetithighschool.com
JB PETIT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
By Manish Modi
A Legacy Of Empowerment And Excellence
Nestled in Mumbai’s historic Fort district, JB Petit High School for Girls has been a bastion of girls’ education since its founding in 1865. Its building was designed by the British architect George Twigge (who also designed the Sir JJ School of Art and Elphinstone College), and built in the Italian Gothic style.
Timeline
1865 Founded as Miss Prescott’s Fort Christian School by an Englishwoman.
1867 The fort walls were demolished, and the Governor of Bombay, Sir Bartle Frere, allocated a prominent site on Napier Road—its present location. The school was renamed Frere Fletcher School.
1871 The foundations of the present school building were laid thanks to a donation of ₹50,000 from Premchand Roychand, a Kutchi Jain philanthropist renowned for his generosity, who built the Rajabai Tower to help his blind mother, who ate her dinner before sunset. The condition of his gift was that Indian girls be admitted to the school without restriction on numbers or fees.
1915 Jehangir Bomanji Petit, a prominent Zoroastrian businessman, assumed a leadership role. His family has since maintained stewardship of the school. Notable trustees over the years have included Sir Dinshaw Petit, Homa Petit, and Yezdi Malegam.
Founding Principles
The school operates on enduring, firmly held Zoroastrian principles of honesty, integrity, acceptance, and equal opportunity, all based on merit and excellence. The school has never discriminated against students based on their religion, caste, mother tongue, nationality, or other factors. It was a great, great lesson in secularism, open-mindedness, and acceptance that I learnt as a child.
My Family Background
I am exceptionally fortunate to be born into my family. My great-grandfather, Pandit Nathuram Premi, was a renowned scholar of Jainism, a polyglot, and the pioneer of Hindi publishing in India. My grandfather was a scholar of Bengali and Hindi. Although my parents were not scholars, they were incredibly kind and generous people. They were very well-read individuals who imparted the best possible values and education to my sister, Richa, and me.
Our Family Connection
We were fortunate to begin our education at the top school in South Bombay, the JB Petit High School for Girls. So much did my family love this school that my uncle’s four daughters, my sister and I, a total of six children from our family, studied at JB Petit High School for Girls from 1966 to 1988.
Both my sister and I were always sure that if we had daughters, we would send them to the JB. As it turned out, my sister settled in the US, and I was blessed with a son!
Our Principal: Ms Shirin F. Darasha
Our principal, Ms Shirin F. Darasha, loomed large in our childhood imaginations—an almost god-like presence. Each day, without fail, her voice would ring out over the intercom: clear, measured, and impeccably enunciated. Her crisp instructions left little room for ambiguity. A strict disciplinarian, she cut a striking figure in her flowing kaftans and short, curly hair—at once commanding and elegant.
As an educationist, she was a visionary. In the most genuine and kindest sense of the word, she was ‘woke’ decades before the term entered popular idiom.
Afternoon Shift
I was really, really fortunate that, back then, in the 1970s, the JB had an afternoon shift in addition to the morning shift. The afternoon shift only covered the primary section, from Lower KG to the fourth standard. Moreover, the afternoon shift also admitted boys.
So I studied at the JB from the lower KG to the fourth standard. My favourite teacher, Ms Zarine B. Merchant, was my class teacher in the first, second, and fourth standards. We were fortunate to have excellent teachers, large, airy classrooms, and very few students in each class. We had eight boys and twelve girls in my class!
To this day, I am in touch with three of my classmates from the JB, all of whom went to the same secondary school as I did - Saint Xavier’s Boys’ Academy. And Ms Merchant remains my all-time favourite teacher.
Library
The school was a wonderfully eclectic collection of buildings built in different eras. Our primary school block was the newest, but we went into the main building for acting in plays, participating in singing and elocution, and my favourite place in the school - the library. The JB was endowed with an exceptionally rich library. It was instant nirvana for a booklover like me! I still remember the names of the two librarians there, Ms Shakuntala and Ms Naronha.
The library was housed in a vast hall, naturally well-lit and with plenty of cross ventilation. The library had everything a child could desire, Tintins and Asterixes, and excellent full-colour children’s books by Richard Scarry and other famous children’s writers! For older children, there was a splendid selection of contemporary writers, including Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Wilbur Smith, Desmond Bagley, and, of course, plenty of Mills & Boon titles.
Art Room
My other favourite room was the art room, a spacious classroom located on the ground floor, to the left of the main entrance, situated directly below the library. We had large black wooden tables where we had to sit cross-legged. Our art teacher was a Canadian expatriate, Ms Tracy. She allowed us to be creative and encouraged all of us to draw, paint, and have fun! Everyone loved art in her class because of how encouraging she was. To this date, I can sketch pencil portraits and line drawings. My sister used to excel at painting. I was too lazy to bother painting well, but I loved sketching and was quite good at it.
Singing and Elocution
Our singing teacher, Ms Naju Patel, made sure that every child had to sing, much to our chagrin! However, the JB system of ensuring that everyone participated in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities stood us all in good stead. I have had the good fortune of being a public speaker and have been fortunate to speak at prestigious universities and public platforms around the world. My elocution training at the JB and later at the SXBA helped me tremendously.
Sand Pit
No description of the school can be complete without describing the sand pit! We were the only school in Bombay with such a large sand pit! Our recesses were spent there, running, jumping, building sand castles… fun times.
The JB Standards of English and Hindi
My sister and I were born and raised in an intellectual yet traditional Bundelkhandi Jain household. However, since we attended the JB - Richa from LKG to the 10th standard, and I from LKG to the fourth standard, both of us speak and write flawless English and Hindi. Our teachers helped us develop our vocabulary, encouraged us to write with flair, and, most importantly, instilled in us the gift of independent thinking.
Focus on Understanding: The JB Pedagogy
Indian educational institutes tend to focus on learning by rote. The JB was most certainly not like that! We were taught to think critically, understand concepts, and always asked to express our ideas in our own words. Memorisation was discouraged.
Each student had the freedom to express themselves, but they were clear that they had to excel in their studies, not just during exams, but at the fundamental level of understanding.
The JB pedagogy was based on developing the child’s understanding. While other schools, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, placed disproportionate emphasis on learning by rote and intimidated students into exam-fearing, percentage-obsessed muggers-up, we were taught things at the conceptual level. Our teachers knew that if we understood the why, we could figure out the how. This was the JB philosophy of teaching, and I am pleased to note that it remains in effect to this day.
JB always taught her students to become complete individuals. To this end, there were plenty of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities where students had to participate in drama, debate, elocution, singing, and play sports like throwball, basketball, etc.
Sports Day
Sports Day was held either at the Brabourne Stadium, which I loved, or at the Bombay Schools Association Ground, at New Marine Lines. I loved this day because I always won a medal or two in sprinting, relay races, and other events. Also, it was great fun to see the entire school present, but there were no studies! And the following day would almost invariably be declared a holiday!
Parents’ Day
Since both my sister and I were good students, parents’ day was a breeze for my parents and us. My mother mainly came, and she always left very impressed by Ms Darasha, our class teacher Ms Merchant, and the way the school was run.
Renovation
Over time, the need was felt to renovate and reconstruct the storied campus. This is being carried out by the famous restoration architect Abha Narain Lamba. The new construction plan will culminate in the Shirin F. Darasha Memorial Block, honouring the late principal (1973–2007) who transformed the JB into a lighthouse of academic and co-curricular excellence.
The current principal, Ms Benaifer P. Kutar, is also an alumna of the JB.
As an ex-student, I am proud that the school consistently tops ratings as the best day school for girls in India. I couldn’t agree more!
Manish Modi
Student from 1974 to 1980
Manish Modi is a spiritual seeker, scholar-practitioner, and cultural steward dedicated to preserving and reimagining Jain philosophy for the modern world. As an author, translator, publisher, bookseller, and public speaker, he immerses himself in classical Jain wisdom while bridging its ancient teachings with contemporary intellectual, cultural, and spiritual frameworks. A singular mission drives his work: to make Jainism’s timeless insights accessible, resonant, and transformative for global audiences.
He can be reached at manis...@gmail.com or +91 98208 96128.
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