Welcome to the Old Dalians’ Association website. OLD DALIAN’S ASSOCIATION (ODA)
is the alumni association of the Daly College, Indore. The Daly College is one of
the most coveted public schools of India, having a 125-year history of its own.
We’ll take you through the exclusive history of the ODA, hereunder.
Mr. W. Fanshawe, who succeeded Mr. Percy Hide, and served as the Principal of the
Daly College (DC) from 1927-1930, had studied in the leading public schools in England.
Therefore, he was aware of the importance of having an ex-students association in
a school. He therefore encouraged its formation at the DC, and in 1928, an alumni
association, then known as the ‘OLD BOYS’ ASSOCIATION’ (OBA) was formed
and its constitution adopted. Pending formal elections, Rai Bahadur Sardar M.V.
Kibe was appointed as the Vice President and Rai Bahadur M. V. Singh as its Secretary.
Kumar Bhon Singhji Bidwal was appointed its Treasurer. It was decided that the President
would be elected from the ruling princes, who have studied at the DC for at least
three years. The first patrons were the Maharajas of Dewas Senior and Dewas Junior.
The first life members were the Rajas of Sitamau, Maihar, Alirajpur, Khilchipur,
and Sarila, and Shrimant Bhan Saheb Maharaj of Dewas Senior. After the elections,
the association flourished under the Presidentship of Raja of Khilchipur and the
Secretaryship of Malik Bapu Mian, a member of the staff.
Marking the first recorded event of the OBA, in 1930, the first
cricket match was played between the Old boys and the ‘Kumars’ of the Daly College.
The Old Boys’ team was captained by Col. Sajjan Singh.
By 1933, a new constitution was in place in the Daly College; OBA
had also seen changes. Raja Saheb Khilchipur’s efforts to have two old boys on the
general council bore fruits and one seat was conceded. The extra-ordinary meeting
was called to elect the representative on 17th day of October in 1932 and could
gather only 14 old boys. Thakur Bule Singhji Bidwal proposed successfully that the
election be postponed. Then, on the 10th day of December in 1932, with more than
30 old boys present, R.B. Sardar Kibe was elected to represent the old boys on the
general council. This was against the wishes of some princes who felt that the representative
should be a prince, and not a ‘Jagirdar’. Malik Bapu Mian, member of the staff,
was again elected as the Secretary, right until he retired from the college.
Mr. E.C. Merchant joined as the Principal in January 1939. Mr. Merchant, being
a public school product himself, encouraged the OBA to become more organized and
active. He encouraged old boys to raise funds for a guest house which could be used
by them when they visited the school. And so, the Dhar Guest House was constructed,
which remains glorious till date!
Fund raising started in 1940, and in 1946, the fund had grown to Rupees Seventy
Thousand, the largest donor being the Maharajah of Dhar, who donated Rupees Fifteen
Thousand, and the other donor being the Maharajah of Orcha..
When, in 1942, a young boy – Kumar Uday Singh of Barwani – died
with a teacher, Behram Shah, in a tragic car accident, Mr. Merchant encouraged a
fund for building a memorial. The B.U.M. CLUB (BEHRAM UDAI MEMORIAL
CLUB), for staff and old boys, was built at a cost of Rs.18063.00. This fund was
raised from 23 donors.
In 1943, OBA regional representatives were nominated for the first
time, a system which was subsequently discontinued. During this time, an Old
Boys’ BLAZER was designed in a Dark Blue/Navy coloured fabric with
a golden lion embroidered on the pocket; and so was a tie in dark
blue coloured fabric with golden stripes. Embossed Brass buttons were made available
for the blazers!
In 1947, two old boys’ representatives, namely Rai Bahadur Sardar
M.V. Kibe and Rao Mahendra Singh of Narwar, were included in the working committee,
for the first time. The latter was also the Secretary of the OBA.
Ever since then, this has been a very active association.