The Rise and Fall of Byju Raveendran: A Journey from Classroom to Courtroom

A Journey from a Coastal Village

In a small coastal village in northern Kerala, nestled between the Valapattanam river and the Arabian Sea, a young boy often skipped school to indulge in football. His parents, both educators in a government school, were sometimes unaware of his whereabouts. Fast forward 46 years, and the world is still uncertain about the current location of Byju Raveendran, the boy who grew up to be a prominent figure. Recently, a Singapore court sentenced him to six months in prison, leaving his future uncertain. This narrative encapsulates a significant chapter in Indian history.

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The Boy Who Loved Mathematics and Skipped Class

Azhikode, the village where Raveendran was born on January 5, 1980, is not typically highlighted in stories of successful entrepreneurs until they achieve fame. Raised by a physics teacher and a mathematics teacher, Raveendran attended the same school where they taught. He often participated in his mother's classes and learned math from his father at home. His childhood was filled with sports like cricket, football, and badminton, frequently at the expense of his studies. Friends recall a curious boy who posed challenging questions to adults, could estimate the speed of trains by counting electric poles, and exhibited a quiet confidence in his unproven beliefs.

The Reluctant Engineer

The Engineer Who Did Not Want to Be One

Following a conventional route, Raveendran pursued mechanical engineering at the Government Engineering College in Kannur and later worked as a service engineer for a multinational shipping company. However, he found this path unfulfilling. During a break in 2003, he assisted friends in preparing for the CAT, India's prestigious management entrance exam. On a whim, he took the test himself and achieved a perfect score. Despite his success, he never enrolled in an IIM and left his job to teach mathematics to small groups of students in Bengaluru, quickly gaining a reputation for making complex concepts understandable.

Transforming Education

The Teacher Who Filled Stadiums

What began on rooftops evolved into large classrooms, which eventually turned into stadiums. By the late 2000s, Raveendran was teaching CAT preparation to audiences exceeding a thousand, sometimes even ten thousand students. This unprecedented phenomenon in the Indian education sector caught the attention of many. During this time, he met Divya Gokulnath, a student who attended his classes, and they later married. Together, they founded a company in 2011 that would become synonymous with quality education in urban India, fulfilling the aspirations of countless middle-class parents.

The Shift from Teacher to Founder

The Founder Who Lost His Way

As Raveendran transitioned from teaching to entrepreneurship, he began to lose sight of his original mission. Those who knew him during his formative years describe a man who became overly confident, surrounded by sycophants who only reinforced his beliefs. The aggressive marketing strategies that propelled the company's growth soon attracted criticism. Parents who had taken loans for Byju's educational tablets found themselves struggling with repayments. Former admirers among educators began to depart, and the media that once celebrated him started to raise difficult questions. Financial troubles soon followed, with the company's accounts becoming increasingly delayed and concerning.

Facing Legal Challenges

The Founder Who Will Not Come Home

Legal troubles began to mount, with cases emerging from Delhi, Bengaluru, Delaware, and now Singapore. Throughout this turmoil, Raveendran has consistently denied any wrongdoing, attributing blame to lenders and external circumstances rather than accepting responsibility. He has remained out of the public eye for several months, while his wife and co-founder has largely refrained from commenting. The school where he first learned mathematics still stands, and his parents, who instilled in him the importance of inquiry, are now elderly. The boy who once played football instead of attending class has spent the last two decades evading various challenges. This week, a Singapore court ordered him to cease his evasions, leaving the question of whether he will comply as the only pressing concern.