Founded in 1847 by Sir Henry Lawrence and his wife Honoria, The Lawrence School, Sanawar is arguably the oldest co-educational boarding school in Asia. Set at 1,750 metres across 139 acres of pine and deodar forest in the Kasauli Hills of Himachal Pradesh, the school has spent nearly 180 years producing men and women who carry its motto, Never Give In, into everything they do.

They are known as Old Sanawarians, and the community they form spans politics, diplomacy, business, the armed forces, the arts, sport, and academia. What sets Sanawar’s alumni community apart is its sheer diversity. A co-educational school since its founding, it has produced leaders of every kind.

Old Sanawarians — The Alumni Community

Alumni of The Lawrence School, Sanawar are known as Old Sanawarians. Old Sanawarians stay connected through the school’s alumni network and gather at the school’s annual Founders celebrations.

Old Sanawarians stand out not because they follow a single path, but because they have made their mark in an unusually wide range of fields, from the Prime Ministership of India and the Chief of Naval Staff to the CEO of a global consulting firm, an Olympic athlete, and the founder of one of India’s most successful fintech companies.

Notable Old Sanawarians

Below are The Lawrence School, Sanawar’s Alumni.

Politics and Public Service

I.K. Gujral 12th Prime Minister of India I.K. Gujral served as Prime Minister of India. His words about Sanawar, “Sanawar is not just a school, it is an institution,” are featured on the school’s official website.

Maneka Gandhi (Batch of 1972) Indian Politician, Animal Rights Activist, and Environmentalist A Union Minister and one of India’s most prominent voices for animal welfare and environmental policy. She credits her school housemaster with having an immense role in shaping her career as a writer and thinker.

Navin Chawla Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
Chawla attributes Sanawar with teaching him truth, integrity, gender equality, and the ability to play the game of life.

Sukhbir Singh Badal (Batch of 1979) Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab
He credits the school’s motto and his house slogan, “Fight a Good Fight”, with enabling him to fight for his ideology and for the people of his state.

Dushyant Chautala Former Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana
He describes the values and system instilled at Sanawar as instrumental in inspiring him to pursue a career in service to the nation and society.

Military Service

Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, PVSM, AVSM (Retd) (Batch of 1954) Chief of the Naval Staff, India (1996-1998)
Admiral Bhagwat credits Sanawar’s teachers and its motto with instilling in him the spirit to persevere, take on challenges regardless, and serve in the wider interests of the community and the nation.

General Gaurav Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana (Batch of 1972) Chief of Army Staff, Nepalese Army (2012-2015)
He credits Sanawar with laying the foundation for his success and instilling the character, discipline, and resilience that carried him to the highest office in the Nepalese Army. Never Give In, he states, became the creed by which he lived and led.

Business and Entrepreneurship

Puneet Renjen Former Global CEO, Deloitte
Renjen credits Sanawar with lessons that go beyond academics: the discipline of making his bed every morning, the resilience of the boxing ring, and the interpersonal skills of the dormitory. “The lessons Sanawar instills in us are what make journeys like mine possible,” he states.

Yashish Dahiya (Batch of 1990) Co-Founder, Chairman, and Group CEO, PolicyBazaar.com
Dahiya credits Sanawar’s disciplined routine with teaching him resilience, independent decision-making, and the determination to Never Give In. “Once a Sanawarian, always a Sanawarian,” he notes.

Naveen Munjal Managing Director, Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd
He describes Sanawar’s motto as having shaped his personality and contributed immensely to his entrepreneurial journey by laying a strong foundation.

Gaurav Shrinagesh (Batch of 1988) CEO, India, SEA and MENA, Penguin Random House
He credits Sanawar with providing the base for the countless experiences that have charted his personal and professional life, noting that teachers believed in students before students believed in themselves.

Arts, Literature, and Cinema

Kiran Tandon Nadar, Padma Shri Awardee (Batch of 1966) Chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art; Art Collector and Philanthropist
Nadar credits Sanawar with making her a confident person, nurturing her curiosity and creativity, and providing the roots for her passion for art. More than sixty years after graduating, she notes, her memories of Sanawar remain vivid.

Arup Kumar Dutta, Padma Shri Awardee (Batch of 1962) Writer and Journalist
Dutta credits Sanawar with instilling the values that have sustained him throughout his life and giving him his first sense of the power of words, the core tool of his trade as a writer.

Shaad Ali (Batch of 1993) Film Director and Screenwriter
Ali describes the time spent at Sanawar as having made him who he is today, crediting the hilltop with teaching him firsts in friendship, sport, survival, music, and nature.

Pooja Bedi (Batch of 1989) Bollywood Actress
She credits Sanawar’s integrity, discipline, focus, academics, and faculty for contributing to who she is today and the choices she has made in her life.

Sport

Zoravar Singh Sandhu (Batch of 1996) Gold Medallist, Asian Trap Shooting Championship 2013; Gold Medallist, Asian Games 2022
Sandhu credits Sanawar with teaching him that the mind needs challenges without fear, the heart needs belonging without insecurity, and the body needs rhythm without disruption.

Academia and Research

Vasant Dhar (Batch of 1972) Professor, Stern School of Business and Center for Data Science, New York University; AI Researcher and Data Scientist
Dhar credits Sanawar with teaching him independence, resilience, and the ability to be a team player, describing the shared experience on the hilltop as special and enduring.

What Sanawar Builds

The Lawrence School’s motto, Never Give In, is more than a phrase. It is a disposition. The range of what Old Sanawarians have achieved reflects what the school has always set out to produce: individuals built on character, courage, leadership, resilience, and a sense of service to something larger than themselves.

From I.K. Gujral at the helm of the Indian state to Yashish Dahiya building one of India’s most significant fintech companies, from Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat leading the Indian Navy to Kiran Nadar building a world-class museum of art, what connects them is not a single path but a single spirit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Preparing your child for The Lawrence School, Sanawar? At Truemaths, we work with families to develop the reading depth, mathematical reasoning, and confident communication that the school looks for. We would love to be part of your child’s journey.