Chandralekha Shanmugam – NPTEL STAR
A safety trainer, a mother, a mentor, and above all, one who simply refuses to stop learning – that is Chandralekha Shanmugam in a nutshell for you. With over 15 years of teaching experience as an academic, she currently works as a safety trainer for industry professionals.
Coming from a quiet village called Gurusamipalayam, located in Tamil Nadu, Chandralekha is proud to represent her village as an NPTEL learner. “I always say it with pride, that there is a learner from Gurusamipalayam who has completed 63 NPTEL courses”, she says with a smile. Her tryst with NPTEL began in 2017 when a colleague introduced her to the platform. “I started off with an Applied Ergonomics course and haven’t stopped since then”, she says.
If completing 63 courses doesn’t impress you, consider this — She has topped in 12 courses, bagged 4 gold medals, and 24+ silver and 25 elite certificates. She has been recognised with 22 STAR recognitions so far. But ask her what she’s proud of in her journey, she would tell you about studying ‘Design Thinking – A Primer’ by Prof Bala Ramadurai alongside her 10-year-old son.
Yes, you read that right. Her young son began learning with her while still in class 5 and has now completed about three NPTEL courses too. “My son and I would sit together, watch the lectures, and debate answers. He would even argue over concepts, quoting Prof. Balaramadurai word for word!” she shares, laughing. “NPTEL became our shared language”, she adds. Her home eventually became a learning space, with her son’s teachers and friends getting inspired by his journey.
Chandralekha’s choice of courses spans a fascinating spectrum, ranging from Industrial Safety Engineering, Human Factors Engineering, and Cognitive Ergonomics to Psychology, Stress Management, Pedagogy, Yoga, and Design Thinking.
She has also completed her Faculty Domain Certifications, both Fundamental and Advanced, and has mentored students with equal energy and excitement. “Teaching is my passion, and mentoring students made me realise how much I could also learn in the process”, she says.
“Every course feels fresh – even if you take the same one again, the assignments are different, and the content is regularly updated. It teaches you how teaching should be”, she reflects. She praises NPTEL not just for its structured content and expert faculty, but also for its thoughtful approach to feedback, assessment, and learner support. She’s also served as a Discussion Forum Moderator for a course from IIT Bombay.
Despite a busy work schedule and long travel hours, she makes it a point to set time aside for NPTEL. And over time, it became a part of her nightly wind-down routine, often studying late into the night, long after everyone else had gone to bed. “Even if I returned by 10 pm, I’d still sit for an hour or two and watch videos, take notes, and try to complete assignments”, she says. “That one or two hours a day is my gift to myself”.
Why such dedication? “The joy of learning. The thrill of watching a professor explain something beautifully and the satisfaction of getting an assignment right. And the chance to learn something new, on my own terms, at my own pace,” she shares.
“NPTEL is for everyone, whether you’re 10 or 90, whether you’re a teacher, a student, a parent, or a retired professional; if you want to learn something, there is a seat for you there. Do the courses just for the joy of knowing something you didn’t know yesterday.”
– Written by Asha Thangaraj