S Kishore
Kishore did not know how far NPTEL would take him when he enrolled in his first course during the lockdown. At the time, he was an undergraduate Civil Engineering student exploring Environmental Engineering and looking for ways to deepen what he was learning in class. It began with a few online lectures, gradually became a habit, and eventually opened a pathway to internships, fellowships, research and, ultimately, a PhD at IIT Madras.
The remarkable part is that none of this began with a grand plan. It began with consistency. Over the course of two to three years, Kishore completed 15 NPTEL courses and appeared for examinations in 14 of them, earning Elite, Elite + Silver and Elite + Gold certifications. He was also recognised as an NPTEL Motivated Learner, Discipline Star and Enthusiast. But for him, the real value of the platform went beyond the certificates.
NPTEL gradually became woven into the rhythm of his regular coursework. He watched lectures whenever he found a free period and set aside time each week for assignments. Sometimes that meant working late into the night to meet a deadline. Over time, what had once required effort became routine. The courses began to take him beyond the classroom. Environmental Impact Assessment and Air Pollution and Control Monitoring became particular favourites, and after topping the examinations in these courses, Kishore received opportunities to intern at IIT Roorkee. There, he worked alongside PhD scholars, contributed to research and experienced academic life from a different vantage point.
One course led him closer to research, another gave him a stronger foundation, and together they began to change the direction of his academic life. Along the way, he received pre-doctoral fellowship opportunities at IIT Guwahati after his Bachelor’s and IIT Roorkee after his Master’s, though he did not join either. He eventually chose to pursue his academic path at IIT Madras, where he is now working towards his PhD in Environmental Engineering. His current research explores bioenergy, with the possibility of developing a reactor or related technology that could eventually be patented or form the basis of a startup.
For Kishore, however, the examination was never the destination. “Giving exams is secondary.” His message to learners is to attend the lectures first, absorb the knowledge and let the certification follow.
NPTEL, in his experience, is not simply a collection of courses; it is a way to discover subjects, explore professors’ work and find possibilities that may not be visible at the beginning.
“I started off at zero and I am now here.”
When he first encountered NPTEL during his undergraduate years, there was no way of knowing where those courses would lead. One course became fifteen. The lectures became a habit; the habit led to examinations, internships and research opportunities; and those experiences eventually brought him to a PhD at IIT Madras. None of those destinations was visible at the beginning.
What Kishore has discovered along the way is precisely what Eliot’s words capture: the limits of a journey are rarely visible from its starting point. Sometimes, you discover what is possible only by continuing far enough to reach it. And for Kishore, there is still plenty of road ahead.
~written by Shambhavi Shekhar