Against all odds

“It was in class IX when I had first heard the term PhD and thought it would be cool to do one. Prior to that, I was an average student who didn’t take academics seriously. I wanted to spend most of my time with my brother Andrew, who is in the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and neglected my studies for a long time. Certain incidents led to a self realization that I had to pick myself up and secure my own future in order to secure his. And from there, I went on to become a good student as well as a responsible human being.

Although I was extremely keen on pursuing research since my late adolescent years, I had almost given up on it during my Bachelor’s. The teacher who introduced the concept of research to us was terrible and I hardly learnt anything. I wanted to move out of the city for my Master’s but my father was persistent that I stay back and I am so thankful to destiny that I did, because he passed away the same year. My second research experience during my post-graduation was even worse than my first, with a single module divided between ten professors who taught the same thing and yet nothing simultaneously.

Despite all these setbacks, deep down I knew I wanted to be in academia; so I stayed with it and eventually went to do my MPhil at Christ University, Bangalore. I finally moved out of my home. Those two years changed the entire game for me. The faculties were extremely good…