So close, yet…

“After finishing my M.Phil in 1989, I was given the opportunity to continue teaching in the same college as a professor. However, there was always a still voice within me that kept pushing me to go further and get a PhD. It so happened that a couple of years later, I got a fellowship from ICSSR that allowed me to pursue one. Not only that, under this fellowship, I had the chance of getting my doctorate and then resuming my teaching. This provided me with job security and was a fruitful scenario for me as well as for my college. Everybody was happy with me getting this coveted fellowship because during those days, we did not have many professors who had a doctoral degree.

I got married while doing my PhD which meant additional personal responsibilities. Although I had a very supportive family, it felt a little overwhelming for me. I decided that the best course of action would be to take a break from my PhD while figuring out my personal life. My college reassured me that I could continue my work as soon as I was ready to come back.

In the meantime, my husband got transferred to Kerala and I decided to resume my work in one of the Universities there. I qualified for the entrance exam there and when I spoke to the people about my research proposal, they seemed to be excited to have me work there.