Coonoor

Introduction

Coonoor is a small quiet hill town in the Nilgiri hills in Southern India. It has a reputation (shared by many Indian hill stations) for being a reality-defying idyllic Shangri-La of sorts.

The local populace almost entirely depends on the tea trade. Floriculture and strawberry cultivation are taking root of late. The massive private tea plantations that surround the hills produce fresh green tea leaves which are picked, processed and packaged in bulk in local factories, for sale at auction houses in Coonoor, Coimbatore and Cochin.

The hills are among the more scenic spots in Tamil Nadu, and consequently attract enormous amounts of tourists during the hot Indian summer months. The town’s infrastructure often finds itself unable to handle the tourist inflow, and life turns especially chaotic when the local horticultural society holds its annual “Fruit Show” at the peak of the tourist season, hosted at Sim's Park.

Coonoor’s dominant demographic is a healthy mix of religions, languages and cultures - caused by the tourists who decide to retire here, the Indian Army’s regimental headquarters and Staff College (DSSC) in neighboring Wellington, and the local boarding schools.

The expensive boarding (residential) schools have for nearly a century now been a feature of the Nilgiris and Coonoor. Originally modelled as British vocational training centers, these have now become comprehensive Kindergarten - Higher Secondary (K-12) schools based on the Indian (Central or State) schooling systems.

The pleasant climate and utopian ideas of children growing up away from the maddening rush of life attract parents from all over the world. The schools are generally very well equipped by Indian and International standards, and mostly cater to the Indian elite. However, since most schools are also open to locals, they don't always breed elitist values. The majority of the schools are owned and operated by Catholic missionaries.

The reasonable availability of infrastructure allows these schools to excel in sports, unlike most other schools in India which have a very strong academic focus. St. Joseph's Boys Higher Secondary School is one residential school in this region that is noted for its excellent facilities and strong focus on sports such as football and basketball and placing equal importance on academics.

The school has often been referred to as the "Giants of the Nilgiris" having won the Inter-School Athletic Championship for the past 16 consecutive years. The school has also become a football powerhouse in the region over the years. The recent addition of an indoor basketball court and gymnasium promises future strides in basketball and other sports as well.

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