When a 97-year-old man from Bihar wrote his post-graduate exam
That we are all students through our lives has been proven by a 97-year-old man who appeared for his post-graduate degree exam. Raj Kumar Vaishya who graduated in 1938 wrote in English and used 23 sheets for his M.A. Economics part one exam, a Nalanda Open University official said.
As reported by The Indian Express, born on April 1, 1920, in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly town, Raj Kumar retired in 1980 as a General Manager in a private firm in Koderma (now in Jharkhand). He did his graduation from Agra University in 1938 and got a degree in law in 1940. Raj Kumar couldn’t pursue a Master’s degree then due to increasing family responsibilities.
Raj Kumar enrolled for an MA in economics for two reasons: to fulfil his long nurtured desire to get a Masters degree and to study economics to be able to understand why India has failed to solve problems like poverty. “I have appeared in exam and now I am a step closer to fulfilling my dream,” Raj Kumar said.
Raj Kumar sat in the examination centre for three hours, like the others, most of them younger than his grand-children, an official said. “Despite heat wave that forced people indoors, Vaishya surprised all of us including young examinees, when he appeared at examination centre,” said the official.
Raj Kumar has been living with the family of his second son Santosh Kumar in Bihar for the last 10 years after his wife passed away. Santosh Kumar, now in his early 70s, retired from the National Institute of Technology-Patna. Santosh Kumar’s wife Bharti, in her early 60s, retired as a professor from Patna University.
Think Change India wishes Raj Kumar Vaishya, all the very best for his Master of Arts in Economics, part two.
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