After completing school and university education in England, Das returned to India in 1894. The idea of The Doon School originated from his participation in the"growing search for a national Indian identity." Although he died seven years before the school actually opened, Das and others in his informal group had lobbied for it during the 1920s. Das and the rest of the group envisaged an Indian school patterned on the British
public school, which he felt had effectively trained young men to become responsible and resourceful administrators throughout the
British Empire. But in contrast to British schools, the founders of the Doon School wanted an Indian school to be nonsectarian and responsive to Indian aspirations. The founders saw Doon as the training ground for a new generation of Indian leaders who would take over the reins of administration and government following Independence. By copying the model of the British public school, the founders were attempting to show that Indians could compete with the British on their own terms without relinquishing their national or cultural identity. This reflected the views of many Indian leaders and intellectuals of the time, but certainly not all. Characteristically,
Jawaharlal Nehru welcomed the creation of the school but
Mohandas K. Gandhi would have nothing to do with it. In 1922, Das he was appointed Advocate-General of Bengal. In 1927, he became a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council of
Lord Irwin. == Personal life ==