Age No Barrier: At 67, Gujarat Grandma Fulfils Teenage Dream Of Getting A PhD

Older women PhDs: In a world that measures learning by age restrictions, women are breaking barriers today. From getting their degrees at middle-age or later to rekindling interest in old passions, no dream seems to be too far. One such woman who ticked a lifelong aspiration off her checklist recently is Dr Usha Lodaya.

From Vadodara, Lodaya is a grandmother aged 67 whose girlhood dream was to pursue medicine and get a postdoctoral degree. Though she could not attain the former owing to early marriage at 20 and domestic duties that followed, she obtained her PhD on June 20.

I can now prefix Dr in my name. It took me almost 50 years to achieve something that I had aspired for when I was a teenager. Though not medical but I did get a doctorate degree," she told Times Of India. 

Breaking Stereotypes: Older Women PhDs And Academics, Restarting Aspirations

Soon after Lodaya embarked on her PhD journey, she lost her husband. Braving through all odds, her determination found success and she is today a PhD holder.

As per a PTI report, she completed a three-year degree in Jainism, a two-year Masters and then a three-year doctorate course in the subject from Shatrunjay Academy, Maharashtra.

Like Lodaya, several married, unmarried, older women have blown the dust off their decades-old passions, interests and hobbies that they had to give up as life happened. One such inspiring story is that of Mala Dutta who, in her 50s, two years ago obtained her PhD degree from Delhi University on the same day as her daughter did.

Karthyayani Amma in her late 90s, meanwhile, turned student by clearing a class 4 literacy exam. More about her here.

Last year, a similar story of Jay Kishore Pradhan, a man in his 60s from Odisha, went viral. A lifelong banker, he cleared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) after his retirement to join young peers in Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) classes. Read about Pradhan and other older people in academia here.

Image: TOI 

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