Age is just a number !

In those days doing Masters was a rarity and working women were considered arrogant. However, I had support from a man who didn’t believe in the patriarchal society and wanted to educate his daughters the way he would educate his sons. I was 26, by the time I started working and wanted to complete my Ph.D. Destiny had some other plans and I had to get married leaving my Ph.D. in between also 26 was too late to get married in that era. Soon after my marriage, things started falling apart and my in-laws wanted me to stop working. My father and husband stood by me and I continued to work. 

Life has its own way of testing your strength and patience. The man I loved the most; my father was diagnosed with throat cancer soon after my marriage. He fought the deadly disease bravely but succumbed to it a year after its diagnosis. This unbearable loss made my world come to a standstill. He left me with a void which can never be filled and responsibilities I could never show my back to. After all, life goes on and balancing between work and personal life, I became the mother of 3 beautiful children. Every day was a challenge as managing 3 kids along with work was not easy with only support coming from my mother’s side. Although I and my husband worked together to meet the expenses but our income was not enough to meet the added responsibilities. I must admit there wasn’t a single day when my husband deterred from the responsibilities I took after my father’s death. He has been supportive and equally responsible for the decisions I made. 

Entangled and choked by my responsibilities, I kept my aspirations in the back seat and dropped the idea of pursuing Ph.D. My Life shuttled between work, kids, and other commitments, trying to bring the best with whatever I had. Time flew and my children left home to pursue their higher studies. Eventually, all of them got busy in their lives and I became comparatively free of my commitments. 

At 52, my husband and I would return to an empty house after work. During one of the summer evening, my husband suggested me to pursue Ph.D. and I laughed off sighting age and time as an unfavorable factor. After a lot of persuasion from my husband, I enrolled for Ph.D. In the beginning, it was a challenge to start studying again and regain my focus. Slowly but steadily, I worked towards my research work with iron-clad determination. I completed my Ph.D. and submitted the thesis just before my 55^th birthday. It was a long cherished dream which I could fulfill with the conviction and support of my husband and kids.Age isn’t a limiting factor as long as you give your best to life!

At my convocation ceremony

With my Ph.D. degree :)