The fact that Bishop Cotton Boys' School has been acknowledged as the No. 1 school among all metro schools in India, the best school in Bangalore and one of the three best schools in India, has come about through design, not by happy accident. It takes vision, hard work, consolidation and the ability to inspire those who teach within these walls and those that come to learn from them. I see the school not so much as a place where a child arrives, struggles through and then leaves happily for home, but a place the child would call another home. Learning here is not a question of textbooks alone. But when it comes to textbooks, we try to inculcate understanding first, and a love for the subjects under study. Of what worth is science without the understanding of what moves the cosmos? Of what worth is Shakespeare without an understanding of human nature? Of what worth is mathematics without an appreciation of the synchronicity of nature? And while our brand of textbook learning is going on, we try to open minds and hearts to the beauty of drama and music, the power of the body skimming through water and the strength of the mind as it works with the one machine that has revolutionised the way the world turns - the computer. Extracurricular activities? We prefer to call these further skeins of Cottons. Any visitor to the campus can get a feel of why Cottons is unusual, with its well-equipped science and computer labs, state-of-the-art auditorium, three playgrounds, swimming pool, canteen, boarding and transport facilities. Indeed, our students, all 5,000 of them (drawn from different backgrounds that represent India's diverse and rich culture), are proud flag-bearers of what Cottons represents.