THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Earning a PhD at an age when most people prefer a laid back retired life is no ordinary feat. For 62-year-old Hareendrakumar V R, the joy was doubled when he received the honour the same day his son Amal Jishnu was awarded his MBA, at the same venue. The convocation of the 2019 batch of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, (CET)’s School of Management held on Wednesday offered the rare photo-op moment when the father-son duo clad in graduation gowns greeted each other after receiving their degrees.
For Hareendrakumar, the PhD is an important milestone in his long journey towards becoming a teacher, a profession that is his passion and one that he has vowed to continue with until his last breath. He was 20 when Hareendrakumar took up the job of a store assistant in Keltron to support his family. However, there had been an intense urge in him to pursue his academic interests along with work.
“While working, I pursued MBA and earned a degree (first class) from Madurai Kamaraj University. My next aim was to clear UGC’s National Eligibility Test (NET). I cracked NET in both management and HR & industrial relations,” he said. The man with 25 years of industrial experience then set his eyes on getting a PhD in management studies. He enrolled in CET School of Management in 2015. Four years later, he realised his dream when the University of Kerala awarded him the degree. He has also obtained additional qualifications in data science, data analytics and research methodology.
Hareendrakumar now has eight years of teaching experience and is a visiting professor/guest faculty at CET School of Management, Institute of Management in Kerala and Digital University. He has also published research papers in national and international journals. His wife Meera V D is a retired music teacher while elder son Akhil Vishnu is pursuing a music course in London. Amal, his youngest, is now working in a private firm following campus placement from CET School of Management. He is keen on following in his father’s footsteps and will soon pursue research in management studies.The convocation of batches from 2019-21 which was postponed due to the pandemic is currently being held in CET.