More Than a Workplace: 33 Years of Family, Service and Community at KIS

For 33 years, Ms. Sushila Elias has been one of the quiet constants of life at Kodaikanal International School. Generations of students, alumni, parents and staff may remember her from the reception desk, the telephone office, the alumni office or simply as the warm and familiar presence who always seemed to know everyone by name. Yet behind that familiarity is a story deeply intertwined with the history and spirit of the school itself.

As KIS celebrates 125 years, it is important not only to honour its milestones and achievements, but also the people whose steady dedication has shaped the institution from within. Ms Sushila is one of those people.

Her connection to KIS began long before she herself joined the staff. Her father worked at the school in the 1960s as a maintenance supervisor, and she remembers feeling proud and happy to return years later to work at the same institution that had once supported her family. What began as a position as a telephone operator eventually grew into a lifetime of service across multiple departments, including reception and, since 2014, the alumni office.

For Ms Sushila, KIS became far more than a workplace.

“When I joined here up to now, the school is not only a working place,” she reflects. “Our school is like a family.”

That sense of family is something she believes makes KIS unique. In her eyes, the school’s strength lies not only in its academic programmes or campus development, but in the way it cares for people — students, staff, and families alike. She speaks about the relationships between departments, administrators, staff and students with genuine affection, describing a culture of support and care that she feels is rare to find elsewhere.

Over three decades, she has watched the campus evolve, programmes expand, and generations of students grow into alumni who return years later carrying memories of their time on the hill. In the alumni office, she became a familiar face to countless returning graduates, helping organise guest house stays, managing databases, coordinating reunions and often simply welcoming alumni home.

What stands out most is the care with which she approaches those relationships. Alumni returning to campus, she says, come back “like a family.” Many return hoping to reconnect with old memories, old friendships, and the feeling of belonging they experienced at KIS. In many ways, people like Ms Sushila are part of what keeps that feeling alive.

Her work has rarely been in the spotlight. Much of it happened behind the scenes, maintaining alumni databases, preparing guest houses, handling reception duties, managing the alumni boutique, coordinating logistics and balancing multiple responsibilities at once. It was demanding work, often unseen, but done with commitment and consistency year after year.

And perhaps that is the legacy of so many members of the KIS support staff.

Schools are often remembered through classrooms, traditions and achievements, but institutions endure because of people who quietly devote themselves to the daily work of care, continuity and community. Staff members like Ms. Sushila create the sense of warmth and belonging that alumni carry with them long after graduation.

When asked what she hopes alumni will continue to do, her answer reflects the same spirit of generosity that has defined her years at KIS: to stay connected, to help students, to guide younger generations and to continue supporting the school community.

As KIS marks 125 years of history, Ms Sushila Elias reminds us that the heart of a school is not only found in its buildings or programmes, but in the people who dedicate their lives to it, the people who make a school feel like home.