Accessibility supersedes scholarship

“I wouldn’t say I was particularly good at any specific subject in school unlike many of my peers who had that clarity for further studies. I was good in Computer Science and loved programming, but not in Mathematics, while on the other hand, I had an affinity towards English. I took my time in figuring out which way to go and since computer science is inexorably linked to the ‘Science’ discipline without any scope of an interdisciplinary interface, I chose English.

As a kid, I enjoyed teaching and wondered how to combine my love for English with my passion for teaching and academics was the only answer I had. Eventually, the granular modalities required to pursue academia opened up in front of me and I decided to pursue a PhD.

Funnily, when I used to tell people in school that I would study English in the future, they thought I was joking. When I did take up Bachelor’s in the subject, they were of the notion that I was studying English because I wasn’t a good student and couldn’t get a good rank in the Engineering entrance examinations. It was extremely demoralizing because I genuinely loved English and was passionate about it.

Fortunately, my family was quite supportive and to date continues to support me in my academic decisions. Moreover, a lot of my own family members had pursued Literature in the past and although in modern…