The first thing that comes to mind when one walks in to the massive campus, WOW.
The walkway that brings us
right up till the auditorium flanked on the sides by massive grounds, left us
trying hard to close our ajar mouths.
A fountain spewing crystal white water. The bust of The Founder surrounded by foliage that encompassed us as well. On the right, we saw – a sit out in a school?!
Another fountain encircled by benches shaded by huge Peepal trees. Further on, a beautiful landscape with a solitary waterfall.
On the right stands the Tower
Block, tall and proud.
A Clock on the Tower Block stamped with the Emblem of the School, signifying the oldest building on Campus.
A Clock on the Tower Block stamped with the Emblem of the School, signifying the oldest building on Campus.
Established all the way back in April 1865 by Reverend Samuel Thomas Pettigrew, BCBS has come a long way since.
Throngs of students have walked through these halls and continue to do so. George Edward Lynch Cotton from Calcutta envisioned the building of schools in the Hilly areas for children of the Europeans and Eurasians of limited means, and this became an order that got sanctioned.
The school now has a strength of nearly 6000 students. The school has survived through the vagaries of war, even having their own food strike in the past due to bad quality of food.
BCBS has 5 houses –
Pettigrew, Pope, Pakenham-Walsh, Elphick and Thomas. Each of these houses have
their own colours and their own values and even their own House songs. Each of
the houses hold a separate cabinet in the conference room where the trophies
won by each of these houses is displayed with pride.
Pettigrew house with is
colors of green and black, preaches honour. Pope with colours of yellow and
white are supposed to be head-strong. Pakenham-Walsh with purple and red boasts
of team spirit. Elphick house with blue and grey colours are loyal and honest.
Finally, Thomas holds in high regard faithfulness and proudly sports the
colours of green and red.
The school song that starts with “Up….” rendered by an ex-Cottonian, Shloke Chaudhuri, who now is in our school was well, bad. Not the song itself, but his rendition sort of killed it. We’re awaiting a good rendition of the School hymn.
While working on this
blogging site, we were outside sitting on the steps leading up to the
auditorium and we found the Cottonians to be very chivalrous.
Though it may have been the keypad that intrigued them, the little boys sat by us and watched us type intently and even brought one of our team members a few stalks of flowers.
The Cottonians are extremely proud of their school. We see why.
A little Cottonian was bargaining for an Anonymous badge and id which were priced at Rs. 150 and Rs. 50 respectively.
Though it may have been the keypad that intrigued them, the little boys sat by us and watched us type intently and even brought one of our team members a few stalks of flowers.
The Cottonians are extremely proud of their school. We see why.
A little Cottonian was bargaining for an Anonymous badge and id which were priced at Rs. 150 and Rs. 50 respectively.
The teachers at Cottons are extremely cordial to the students. We saw a teacher walking around with a Tom & Jerry tie; must be a huge hit with the kindergarteners.
They even have pets for the kindergartners in their block - little ducks, parrots and lovebirds.
The Chefs of the school, Mr.Babu and Mr.Madhavan said that they were extremely happy with the school, their salaries and they received regular bonuses. They also said that “The boys are our gods.”
The Cannon William-Elphick building is under construction. The Elphick Research centre that houses the Senior school and the Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Computer classrooms where Gadget Garage, Bloodwork, Quest and Technocrat are underway. The older buildings include G U Pope Block which has the 11th and 12th grades and the AV Room where Console Gaming is happening.
The magnificent school
celebrates its 150th anniversary, next year.
