At 83, Monk Completes MA Philosophy From IGNOU

IGNOU conducted its 35th convocation in its Madurai regional centre on Tuesday.  One of the students who proved that age is no bar for education was 83-year-old Ramphal Rana. The monk graduated with a master’s degree in philosophy from IGNOU on Tuesday.

The university gave degrees, diplomas, and certificates to around 2.91 lakh meritorious students at the ceremony. According to a report by a leading news daily, Ramphal Rana wanted to explore himself and Indian religion, philosophy, and spirituality. His passion to learn more about the subjects inspired him to study further and he decided to do an MA in Philosophy from IGNOU.

Sant Ramphal, who turned monk in 2009, is a resident of Bahadurgarh. After retiring in 2000, he left everything and took the path of spirituality. He was one of the oldest students to get the degree during the 35th convocation of IGNOU. He was, however, unable to attend the convocation ceremony due to his health condition and distance.

This isn’t the first time the monk has achieved something bigger in life. According to him, he attained the fourth position at the national-level UPSC Stenographer examination. Apart from this, he also holds a first division LLB degree and has also passed the Company Secretary of India exam.

His zeal to learn more about ancient philosophers including Buddha, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, made him take up the MA (Philosophy) course at the university. Not just this, every year IGNOU offers degrees to a lot of students who are above 60 years of age. This year, IGNOU also conferred a degree to 70-year-old Ranjit Dixit who believes that there is no age to get an education.