Dow Hill School (DHS) Kurseong: headmistress dies

Siliguri, Aug. 5.TT: Suchitra Basu, the headmistress of Dow Hill School (DHS) in Kurseong who, served in the school for nearly four decades, passed away in a Calcutta nursing home this morning.

Basu, 60, had been ailing for some time and her last rites were performed today evening in the presence of family and friends.

The staff and students of DHS and the brother school, Victoria Boys’ have mourned the death of their teacher.

Basu joined the school as a Bengali teacher and took over as the headmistress in 2004. She had joined DHS in 1974. Both the schools will hold a condolence meeting tomorrow.

“She had been ailing for some time with a kidney infection and also had a lung ailment. Her haemoglobin count was low too,” said Jayanta Pal, the headmaster of Victoria School.

During her nearly four-decade teaching tenure in the 133-year-old DHS, one of the oldest schools in the hills, Basu taught a generation of students. Students fondly remember her as a teacher who was mild mannered.

“Miss Basu did a lot to improve the overall image of the school. The results of the school in the past few years have been brilliant and she has also done a fine job of refurbishing the school infrastructure,” said M.C Rana, an alumnus of DHS and Victoria School.