KSOU convocation celebrates senior learners who topped their courses

"I lost my wife Vasundara four years ago. I have written an entrance exam to pursue Phd in Sanskrit. I am also pursuing a certificate course in Jyothir Vignana", a senior citizen said.

Mysuru: Age was not a deterrent for the achievement of these senior citizens who bagged laurels at KSOU Convocation in Mysuru on Saturday.

Gnanasunder

"Continuous education keeps our brain active and protects us from conditions like Alzeimers at this age," said 72 year old S Gnanasunder, who bagged MA in Sanskrit with distinction. Born in 1953, he completed BE in Electronics in 1972 and he has worked in Bharath Electronics and Tata power electronics and has retired as Programme director. Even as Sanskrit was his second language during PUC, he joined his sister Gayathri's daughter Smitha and daughter-in-law Amrutha and pursued courses of Kavya, Sahithya from Karnataka State Sanskrit University. Now he bagged MA along with Amrutha.

Recalling support of his daughter Akhila and grandchildren who are in class 9 and 4, a resident of MICO layout Bengaluru, Gnanasunder said, "There is no end for learning. There is a sea of knowledge to acquire. Besides a sense of achievement, pursuing MA filled the void created after I lost my wife Vasundara four years ago. I have written an entrance exam to pursue Phd in Sanskrit. I am also pursuing a certificate course in Jyothir Vignana" he said.

Lakshminarayana

"When we have examples of former Prime Minister H D Devegowda, PM Narendra Modi and even CM Siddaramaiah who are all so active beyond 75 years of age, age is just a number and we can achieve anything at any age" shared 65 year old Lakshminarayana A N B who secured 6th rank in MA Sanskrit and even got a cash prize.

A resident of Malleshwaram in Bengaluru he is a retired Central Government Excise and Customs Superintendent. Inspired by his mother Shantha Bhai and grand mother Cauvery who recited sanskrit shlokas, he had studied Sanskrit from class 8th to Bsc. After a huge gap, followed by a Sambashan Shibhir at Sanskritha Bharathi, he enrolled for MA in Sanskrit. Recalling support of his wife Mohini Kamath and two children Vivek Bengre and Pradhan Bengre, who are software engineers, Lakshminarayana shared that he has written an entrance exam to pursue Phd in Sanskrit.

Abdul Rehman

After a long wait, owing to UGC recognition issue, 60 year old Abdul Rehman was all elated to bag first rank and gold medal in MA in Urdu, which he completed in 2015. Abdul, a journalist from Bengaluru, and has already pursued five Master degrees including MA in English, Mass Communication and Journalism, MBA, MPhil and Med. He is also planning to pursue Phd. "If we really have interest to achieve something, age doesn't come in our way," Abdul shared.