Training Ground: The Lucia King cottage of Dr Graham’s Homes where girls are trained to be governess. Picture by Reza Pradhan

Dr Graham’s Homes’ reputation as one of the leading educational institutions in the hills has travelled far and wide, but not many know that some of the country’s best governess have received their training at this Kalimpong school.

Girls trained as governess and nurses at the institution have worked in the homes of the rich and famous like Sonia Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan, K.R. Narayanan and Danny Dengzongpa.

Bursar of the Homes, David Foning, said: “There are many girls who received training here before going on to work for eminent people in the country. They have worked for politicians, film stars and corporate czars.”

While there are some who have found jobs as nurses and governess for high profile people in the country, others have travelled to foreign shores, where there is a great demand for Homes-trained girls.

“The tradition of churning out not just governess, but excellent nurses has been a strong point of the Homes. Those who underwent nurse’s training here have managed to secure good jobs in Scandinavian countries like Sweden. There are also girls like Matilda Lepcha, who trained as a nurse here before leaving to work for Danny Dengzongpa,” said Foning. The girls who have achieved success in this line of work have done their families proud.“It was in 1972 that my sister was selected to work as governess in Indira Gandhi’s home. She has been working for the Gandhis ever since. Sonia Gandhi’s children treat her like a mother. She was undergoing training at Dr Graham’s Homes when she was selected. Her accomplishments have made us proud. The training she received at the Homes, has helped her achieve success in life,” said J.D. Lepcha, the elder brother of Ongmu Sherpa.

Forty-year-old Ongmu is now married and settled in Delhi where she continues to work for Sonia Gandhi.

The current batch of girls undergoing training at the Homes is optimistic about landing equally good jobs in the future.

“The training they have been giving us here has earned a reputation of being able to fetch good jobs. We hope that we will also get such jobs after we finish the training. Since the batch before us is doing well we are confident about our prospects,” said 19-year-old Karuna Giri, who is undergoing the two-year governess training.