{"id":1248,"date":"2026-11-05T06:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T06:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2026-11-05T06:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T06:50:18","slug":"ten-courses-one-curious-mind-souviks-second-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/ten-courses-one-curious-mind-souviks-second-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Courses, One Curious Mind: Souvik\u2019s Second Look"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"896\" height=\"896\" src=\"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/NPTEL_-85-edited.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1250\" style=\"width:247px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/NPTEL_-85-edited.png 896w, https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/NPTEL_-85-edited-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/NPTEL_-85-edited-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/NPTEL_-85-edited-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 896px) 100vw, 896px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Souvik Chel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Souvik Chel often enrolls in ten to twelve NPTEL courses in a semester. He may sit for only two or three certification exams, but the rest aren&#8217;t forgotten. He uses their lectures as reference material throughout the semester, returning to them whenever a concept in college needs another explanation. For him, learning doesn&#8217;t always have to end with a certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fourth-year B.Tech student at the Institute of Engineering &amp; Management (IEM), Kolkata, Souvik encountered NPTEL in his first year. His first course was \u2018The Joy of Computing Using Python\u2019. Initially, he enrolled to practise what he was already learning in college, choosing courses that aligned with his semester subjects.\u2018Database Management Systems\u2019, \u2018Operating System Fundamentals\u2019 and \u2018Data Science\u2019 soon became some of his favourite subjects to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Operating System Fundamentals\u2019 holds a special place on that list. Souvik describes it as one of the best courses he has taken on NPTEL, given his interest in the subject. He also appreciates the way the instructors break down concepts. Whenever he gets stuck, he returns to the lectures. \u201cI regularly watch the videos more and more, maybe two or three times,\u201d he says, explaining how he works through difficult topics. The assignments often put his understanding to the test. Over time, this became an important part of his learning routine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ededed\">His advice to other NPTEL learners is straightforward: \u201cSolving the assignment part is very, very crucial.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Watching a lecture is one thing; working through a problem independently is another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Souvik&#8217;s first Data Science certificate remains a memorable milestone. Receiving a good score encouraged him to continue with NPTEL. Since then, he has earned seven to eight certificates followed by the NPTEL Discipline Star recognition from IIT Kharagpur in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f1e291\"> He describes himself as an average student during his school and college years, making these accomplishments a welcome confidence boost. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>He wasn&#8217;t studying alone, either. One of his friends started taking NPTEL courses around the same time. The two regularly competed with each other, worked through assignments and kept track of their progress. That bit of friendly rivalry gave them another reason to stay engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though college commitments have kept him from taking up NPTEL courses this semester, he plans to return next term with around seven or eight courses in mind. He is also keen to move beyond his core Computer Science subjects and explore areas such as \u2018Design Thinking and Robotics\u2019. It is a chance to venture into something unfamiliar while continuing to learn at his own pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With GATE 2027 ahead, Souvik hopes to pursue an M.Tech at an IIT or NIT and NPTEL will be a useful part of that journey. After all, not every course needs to end with an examination or a certificate to leave something valuable behind. Sometimes, having the right lecture to return to is just as worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>~written by Eshani Bhattacharjee<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Souvik Chel Souvik Chel often enrolls in ten to twelve NPTEL courses in a semester. He may sit for only two or three certification exams, but the rest aren&#8217;t forgotten. He uses their lectures as reference material throughout the semester, returning to them whenever a concept in college needs another explanation. For him, learning doesn&#8217;t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nptel-star"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1252,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions\/1252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.nptel.ac.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}