My tryst with Doctor of Philosophy --Raj Bahadur Yadav

 I solemnly remember my worthy teachers of Government College, Hisar who took a keen interest in shaping me into a promising scholar.It goes to their credit that they encouraged me to work hard as a student of English literature.They taught me the basics of English grammar and the craft of writing correct, meaningful and precise sentences. Prof Ved Guliani deserves a special mention in this regard. Prof MM Sharma was the most popular lecturer in English in those days as his style of teaching was unique and full of wisdom. He taught only one scene from William Shakespeare's play,"As you like It" or a single stanza from the poem,"Kubla Khan" authored by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge saw a dream at night and when he woke up, he composed this magnum opus in 1797. It was published only in 1816. All the students of English literature greatly admired Prof Sharma for his erudition as a scholar. He made us understand the different forms of literature like poetry,drama,epic ,ballad and novel etc. He made us thoughtful and curious, inspiring us to work quietly.                             

                                   While doing my MA[English] from Department of English of  Kurukshera University, I came in contact with the most respectable and academically brilliant professors of English Department like Dr R S Singh, Dr OP Grewal , Dr Bhim Singh Dahiya and Dr SL Paul.All of these teachers came from small villages and had  spent their formative years in government schools.Dr R S Singh focused on the socio-economic and cultural background of the Indian fiction. Dr Grewal was the architect of the objective idealism and rational thinking and Dr Bhim S. Dahiya was the fountain of spontaneous speech and deep wisdom. In outward looks also, he appeared like an Indo-European scholar--very soft-spoken and yet very perceptive and enlightening. Listening to their classroom lectures made me reflective and a bit analytical also. 

                              Once I went to Dr R S Singh and said to him,"Sir, I wish to  write my Ph.D. thesis on William Shakespeare's plays". He looked at me from head to toe and told me," First go to university library and prepare a bibliography of at least 5000 topics. The topic you wish to work on ought to be fresh or decisively different from those ones  you are able to  go through. It can be a fresh interpretation of the existing patterns of knowledge also.". I spent a  couple of months, searching,researching and collecting the names of researchers and their respective topics related with the plays of Shakespeare. I had selected the topic," Common people in the selected plays of William Shakespeare". At the initial stage,some of my friends did not feel much impressed by my great urge to focus on the ordinary people in Shakespeare's plays. They advised me," You change your topic. Nobody bothers about shepherds, attendants, servants and musicians in the great bard's dramatic world". But I replied quietly in such trying moments," Look here a king appears kingly only in the presence of commoners . In absence of his body guards,military commanders and personal attendants, he will himself look like any other common man. I am not going to change my topic, come what may!". In fact, I was quite willing to forego my claim to Ph.D. degree but not ready to compromise with my original topic of research. I did not claim that the draft of my thesis was classical and perfect yet I was confident that I could could talk on my topic for hours together. I knew as to what I had written in my thesis. And I felt quite comfortable while discussing the role of common people in the plays of Shakespeare. I had something original to communicate to the academia so far as my thesis was concerned.In the end, with the blessings of my KU teacher, Dr Bhim S. Dahiya,[ a former Vice-Chancellor]   and with the constant inspiration and motivation of  my distinguished research guides like Dr D S Dalal, late Dr MK Bhatnagar  and Dr Satish Arya, I was able to submit my thesis to the Maharshi Dayanand University[MDU], Rohtak in 2009. I shall always remain immensely thankful to Dr SP Dahiya[ then Chairman, Department of English], Dr Surendra Singh Sangwan and Dr JS Hooda for encouraging me to burn the midnight oil.Prof D R Chaudhry, Dr Ami Lal Yadav and Mr Ram Autar Yadav also boosted my morale during my interactions with them on the plays of William Shakespeare.  In 2010, in the month of May, my viva voce exam was held.  A long-cherished dream of a cow-herd boy had been fulfilled. I salute all of my worthy teachers and academic friends for they guided and cooperated  me  in obtaining the Ph.D.,the highest degree of the university. I am aware that only the award of Ph.D. degree per se is not enough, I have to work round the clock to reach a  certain standard of academic excellence.

 

 

My tryst with Doctor of Philosophy              --Raj Bahadur Yadav