PhD at 100: Journey of an Eternal Optimist

I would like to share about an old man from India who got his PhD on 100 years old. Enjoy the reading.

A student after being a freedom fighter, a teacher, a lawyer and a judge. Bholaram Das is a living inspiration. In the year 2007, a 97 year old ex-freedom fighter approached a 46 year old Sanskrit Professor requesting him to be his guide for PhD. Taken aback at first, the Prof agreed, though reluctantly. Today, after three years, 100 years old Bholaram Das is the oldest ever student to pursue PhD. His guide Prof Deepak Kumar Sharma, the Gauhati University Sanskrit Professor couldn’t have been prouder.

It was not easy for the University of Gauhati either to accept Shri Bholaram Das as its student. “It was a very exceptional case. No one had ever approached the university at this age. The University’s research council called for a meeting. It decided to give him provisional admission”, says Prof Sharma. The University soon realised the passion of Shri Bholarama Das to pursue his research. The University’s Vice Chancellor Okhil Kumar Medhi says that it’s a privilege to host such a rare student. “I went to see him yesterday. His progress is very good. He should be able to submit his thesis by next year”, adds the VC. And the subject of his doctorate is as interesting as the man himself – the role of his native village Bohori in Barpeta district in western Assam in the spread of neo-Vaishnavite movement, an egalitarian stream of Hinduism, propagated by Sankardeva.

To be ‘Dr’, Shri Bholaram Das has always been very involved with the subject of Vaishnavite Philosophy, says his son Dr Bibhuti Das, also a PhD and an alumnus of IIM Ahmadabad. “My father has been working on this subject for a very long time. He always believed in one God and that all communities encompass one another. This is a typical neo-Vaishnavite Philosophy which is prevalent in Assam and North-Eastern India. The three great saints who philosophised this stream of thought were Sri Sankar Dev, Madhav Dev and Hari Dev. He was the chair of North-Eastern India Haridev Foundation for almost 16 years”, says Dr Bibhuti Das. So, what proved to be the push factor? “When I enrolled for PhD at the age of 56, he thought that if the son can get it he should also try and enroll himself.” “Was it sort of competition with the son?” Dr Bibhuti Das laughingly says, “Not really. In our family, two of my sisters in law are also Doctorates. It is more like an effect.”

Passion, people say, dies with youth. How passionate Shri Bholaram has been about his studies? “It took him about one and half years to enroll for PhD. The University was not too sure whether they can allow him to do PhD at that age. When synopsis was submitted, they thought that he is too old to pursue research on a subject like this! Then he put forward all the work that he had done on the subject and argued that you can’t put restriction on the age of learning. It was only then that the University enrolled him. By that time he was already 99. Still he has kept working. His mind functions strong but his health is failing.”

A man has many identities. For Dr Bibhuti, Bholaram Das has been a father, a freedom fighter, a friend and an inspiration. How has been Dr Bibhuti’s experience with his father? “My father faced many ups and downs in life but he never bogged down. He was in jail during freedom movement while still in class VIII. The school restricted him for this. Then he studied in a private school. After schooling he took admission for further studies in Gauhati. To go to Gauhati, he had to regularly walk a long distance and cross a river to reach college from village Bohori. Finally, he did his Masters in Law from Calcutta which took at least 3 days to reach in those days. He has strived a lot in his life. He was very active in politics and even won election in a local ward. He also became Secretary of a sub-division in the Congress Party from 1945-48. The one thing I can say is that he is an eternal optimist with a tremendous will power.”

What are the soft sides of the Grand Old Student of India? “O! He is a great fan of cricket. Even now, at 1.30 in the night he would sit up and watch the whole match. He has a great zeal for life. He is a very good actor as well and acted with the legendary Vishnuprasad in many plays. The most memorable role was the one of archer in the play ‘Anarkali’. He is a strict disciplinarian for himself but has a very solid sense of humour. For me, as a son, I always found him as a friend from childhood.”

The father, the fighter and the friend; everyone around him has a Bholaram Das moment of humour to share. Prof Deepak Sharma says, “I know him for the last ten years. He tells me ‘Tumi’, a word to address a younger person and my wife as ‘Apuni’, used to address someone elder to you. Whenever my wife asks him why is not telling her ‘Tumi’, he says that you are the husband of my ‘Guru’ (teacher), ‘Gurupatni’ i.e. the wife of teacher. Gurupatni is never inferior to the Guru, rather superior to the Guru.”