Narayanan R

For Narayanan R, learning was never about collecting certificates. It was about gaining knowledge, building skills, and using them to serve society. His NPTEL journey reflects that belief : the story of a professional who chose to step away from a successful IT career and build a meaningful life in teaching.

Narayanan spent 22 years in the IT industry, working across different domains in India and at client locations in the United States.

His career was rewarding, but the desire to become a teacher had stayed with him for a long time. Growing up in a family and community surrounded by educators, teaching felt like a natural calling. Eventually, he made the decision to move into education nearly a decade before retirement.

His motivation was rooted in a desire to serve the society. Instead of continuing in a city, he wanted to support rural students who often need more direction and better access to up-to-date resources. Today, he teaches at a college while  pursuing doctoral research. His introduction to NPTEL came through his wife, who suggested the platform when he was looking to update his knowledge before entering education. He enrolled immediately, beginning with five courses in his very first term and completed all of them.

The weekly structure appealed to him because it allowed a working professional to learn in manageable portions. He did not need long, uninterrupted study sessions. Evenings became his classroom, where he watched lectures, revised concepts, and completed assignments after work. But the flexibility did not make the journey easy. A two-and-a-half-hour weekly lecture schedule often required seven to eight hours of genuine study. Narayanan learned to divide his time into focused chunks, usually spending around two hours each evening after work. Some assignments were demanding, and difficult concepts needed several rounds of learning. Staying committed, even after a long day, became the foundation of his progress.

Among all his courses, the ones closest to his heart were ‘AI: Constraint Satisfaction’ by Prof. Deepak Khemani from IIT Madras and ‘Artificial Intelligence: Foundations and Algorithms’ by Prof. Mausam from IIT Delhi. The way the faculty taught left a lasting impression on him.

One idea from the Deep Learning course continues to guide his own classroom even today: teach for the “bottom 30,” rather than only for the strongest students. For Narayanan, the biggest outcome was not a certificate but the transformation. NPTEL helped him become a more confident technical professional and a better teacher. It also inspired his children, who began taking NPTEL courses from a young age and earned their first certifications in their early teens.

Narayanan hopes to continue learning, teaching, and researching for the benefit of society. He believes NPTEL brings world-class education within the reach of ordinary learners. He also hopes that more practical and laboratory components will be added, helping students turn knowledge into hands-on skills.

Narayanan’s journey is a reminder that education does not have an expiry date. With discipline, purpose, and perseverance, learning can open a new professional chapter and make that chapter meaningful for an entire community.