Concordia Magazine 2025

Spirit of the Manor Award Inspired by numerous rendezvous with Old Manorians over the years, my brother Aashish Mehta (1993–2000) and I were reminded of a certain essence of noble character that we innately valued but felt was under-appreciated by wider society. Moreover, the travel grant has been designed, through its criteria, not only to propagate that spirit geographically but also to revitalise it among former students in every corner of the world (and in our backyard, too), as highlighted by Krish Thakrar’s article. We hope that in due course the award will take on a life of its own, encouraging excitement

Versatility, kindness, inquisitiveness, making a quiet difference and a general idea of positive liberty were some of the habits inculcated in us as boarders at the Manor of the Rose, most spiritedly by Stephen and Jane Cole during a tenure that would have made even the Dead Poets Society envious. However, like so many other innocent but wonderful peculiarities of childhood, the significance of that experience has become especially vivid to us only with age, not to mention the very different social environment today. With that, and the unfortunate dissolution of the Manor as a boarding house, in mind, Aashish and I felt the need to make a concerted effort to preserve and perpetuate the Manor’s spirit through a bursary and travel grant awarded annually to a Lower Sixth Former who best embodied that spirit.

and healthy competition among students without compromising the sincerity of its original intention — and perhaps even spawn other, similar endeavours. Hamesh Mehta (1991–1998)

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Last year’s Spirit of the Manor Award winner, Krish Thakrar, with his mother, Sejal Thakrar, as well as Old Manorians, Faisal Khouja (1992–1997), Hamesh Mehta, Stephen Davis (1982–1984) and Julian Catchick (1986–1993), who inspired the award. The photo was taken in the Dining Hall last summer.