Wanderlust

“I had absolutely no clue that a degree called PhD existed until my Master’s. I was born and brought up in Malappuram district of Kerala, which is an economically backward region and hence the perception of higher studies is quite vague there. My father was a school teacher who used to force me to study; I never liked studying in school and unlike my siblings, had no interest in taking up science. I was more inclined towards geography instead and hence pursued humanities. As expected, I faced initial resistance from my family but eventually they came around and supported me with my academic choices.

My college did not have any teacher with a doctoral degree and there wasn’t much guidance in the direction of research as well. Therefore, I stayed ignorant about PhD for a significant part of my life. It was only after I stepped out of my district and went to a different state, I became aware of the different opportunities that academia provides. My Master’s thesis supervisor was the first person who suggested that I pursue a PhD. Without giving it a second thought, I decided to follow his suggestion.

CUJ, a relatively new university at that time with an even newer Geoinformatics department was the only place I applied for a PhD and luckily got selected; my advisor gave me a preference over other more qualified candidates because of my sheer interest in the subject and knowledge.