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1. Tell us more about your role & responsibilities at your college.
I am a PhD student. That means you are constantly writing something, reading something and thinking something. You are a small part of the large community. Research pushes boundaries of the existing knowledge and expands it. You are a small effort in that push.
Your biggest responsibility is your PhD. Secondary works include assisting in classes and related tasks and preparations. There are certain trust and expectations that your supervisor places on you. You have a duty to live up to it, especially if you are teaching.
That is a huge responsibility. There are two sides to it. You have been a student and you want to cover up whatever you lacked as a student. The other side is that you are limited by so many factors. Certain role and your responsibility are unsaid. You learn them as you go.
2. What have been some of your biggest challenges and learnings from what you do?
The biggest challenge was to control my emotions. At times, people around you do things that are downright stupid from your perspective. It angers me. That was and is still the biggest challenge. Often times, I experience “imposter syndrome”, like whatever I have done is just luck and no hard work.
So, when I seriously sit down to do things, I get de-motivated so easily. There were times when I would simply see my colleagues progressing and create panic within me and I start to question myself.
My takeaway from the experiences is that you are responsible for your happiness, not others, which means you take care of yourself first. Another important lesson has been not to bite more than I can chew. Sometimes I get excited about certain work but leaves me drowned in deadlines.
Another important lesson which I learnt from my supervisor is that people will always undermine you, but instead of fighting by your voice, you should let work talk for you.
3. How do your parent's look at you participating in extracurricular activities?
Honestly, I was shy and the extracurricular activity I was interested was in reading and writing. My dad fed the bookworm in me. He used to get books from the libraries for me. Reading creates an alternate world. It is magical.
There were times when my mom wanted me to have other hobbies like music and dance. Though I enjoy them I am never a good one. I have failed in both these. I used to write short stories. Scribble them behind the class notes. They were very amateurish ones and I was ashamed of them. But that didn’t deter me from participating at school, district and state-level competitions organised by various organisations.
Later on, I started blogging. It's not regular that I post in my blog. Certain things affect you, move you, surprise you – that moment I sit down and write. They are as I said amateurish but now, I am not ashamed of them.
4. Do you enjoy the kind of influence you hold at such a young age?
It is only when others come up to me and tell me that something has affected them because of what I said or did, that it strikes me. I find that satisfying. But at the same time, there is a certain uncertainty. Anything could happen. It is because every moment you learn something new, it adds to your knowledge base. It grows when you interact with others. It is a two-way street, you inspire others, others inspire you.
I feel proud when I see that someone was influenced by me. But again, your experiences are your own. What you learn out of it personally. Suppose the experience works out for me and it doesn’t work out for others. It requires the courage to admit that fact. But that is exactly the kind of influence I want to have on others – that they learn, relearn and unlearn things.
5. What are your career goals and how is what you are doing going to help you with that?
I always wanted to be a teacher. Throughout my school days, there were two people – my Biology and English teachers. They were my inspiration. Initially, I wanted to be an English teacher so I graduated in English literature. But while there, libraries fancied me and for my postgraduate, I studied them.
Currently being a PhD student in library and information science, I am fortunate enough to be able to assist my teachers with classes. This is a hands-on-training for what is to come. Some days you are prepared, other days you narrowly escape being embarrassed, there might be students who challenge you, on the other hand, there might the shy ones.
This has taught me that teaching is a two-way process in the sense that you teach and you learn along with your students. Now with COVID19 situation around, the concept of the teacher has changed due to online tutorials and classes. The teachers should be able to be more than teachers and be mentors.
6. Do you have a message for parents to allow their kids to do things besides academics?
My message is not for the parents. But to kids. There is life beyond academics. Certain things you don’t learn at school – like opening a bank account or climbing on to a crowded bus, getting a seat in one. That is what your life is going to be, once you are done with your school.
Your hobbies and your passions are what will be with you till the day you die or maybe even after that. My granddad used to say “apply the 80-20 principle in your life”. It means that 80% importance to academics and 20% to your extracurricular activities. But I think you can’t quantify those things.
Now parents being parents are concerned for us. They will start thinking practically. It lies in us to convince them and for that, we truly need to know what we want. But I will also tell parents to trust their kids. This will leave a clearing for the relationship to grow.
7. What's your message to encourage students to do internships and attend conferences?
Internships, I believe bridges the gap between theory and practice. Whatever you learn in your textbook, you can see it happening in a real setting. What happens is that you get hands-on experience, meet new people and make your own pocket money. Do not expect to get all three.
But it will definitely help you get an idea of what job you want out of your domain. Who knows you might even develop some new skills. Ultimately it depends on the kind of environment you have and the attitude you carry.
With regard to conferences, just attending for the sake of a certificate is of no use. Most conferences call for papers. Try to write for them. I am not arguing that it is going to be easy or anything, but once you see your idea in solid ink and paper, you feel proud of yourself. It boosts your confidence. And that you carry that throughout.
Interview by - Benil Joseph
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