At IIT Madras’s recent convocation, Jigisha Tailor and her son Aditya Kapadia walked on stage together to collect their degrees. Jigisha is 45. Aditya is 21. Neither had planned to finish at the same time, and neither had expected to be called up together. Jigisha spent 16 years teaching electronics at an engineering college in Bharuch, Gujarat, before family responsibilities pulled her out of the classroom in 2019. Three years later, she returned to a classroom, this time as a student, in a course her son had introduced her to.
How the online BS programme became a family decision
Aditya enrolled in IIT Madras’s online Bachelor of Science (BS) in Data Science and Applications in 2021, at the age of 18. The Covid-19 pandemic had shut down campuses across the country, so an online degree from IIT Madras carried the same practical weight as any other option available to him at the time. Data science and artificial intelligence (AI) interested him on their own merit, independent of the pandemic circumstances. At the time, online students were required to be enrolled in an in-person institution as well, so Aditya began the IIT Madras course alongside a diploma at a college in Ahmedabad. This changed once the IIT Madras senate declared the online BS degree equivalent to a regular four-year course. Aditya dropped the diploma and continued solely with the IIT Madras programme. Jigisha initially watched from the sidelines. The coursework spread across statistics and systems, close enough to her electronics background to feel familiar, and different enough to feel new. Aditya encouraged her to sign up, and towards the end of 2022, she enrolled, according to The Indian Express.
Balancing studies, housework and a decade-long gap
Restarting academic life after years away from formal study was not immediate. Jigisha needed time to relearn mathematics and statistics before the material became manageable again. She relied on the institute’s live doubt-clearing sessions, some of which ran past midnight, along with a WhatsApp group formed by her batchmates. She kept her course load light, taking one or two subjects a semester, unlike Aditya, who often took four at once. The programme’s flexible pace made this possible for working professionals and returning students alike. Her daily routine began around 4:30 am, with studying finished by seven, followed by household chores and further coursework through the early afternoon. Not everyone around her understood the decision. Extended family members questioned why she was studying again at this stage of life. At home, however, the reception was different. Her husband, also a college professor, supported her through difficult phases, including moments when she doubted whether continuing the course was worth the pressure. Her father-in-law tracked her project deadlines, and her mother-in-law, who used a wheelchair, also stayed involved in her progress.
From study partners to academic competitors
Over time, Jigisha and Aditya’s relationship shifted from parent and child helping each other to something closer to peers. Both pursued the same academic goals, and a sense of competition developed around scoring an ‘S’ grade, the programme’s highest distinction awarded to the top 5 to 10 percent of students, above the ‘A’ grade for high distinction. Aditya, having cleared his diploma subjects earlier, had a head start and guided his mother through later stages of the programme, including viva examinations and online proctored exams.
Life after graduation
Aditya completed his BS degree in 2024. He interned as a data science intern at Syngenta before being offered a full-time position with the company. Jigisha finished her programme around the same time but chose to pause before searching for a job. Her younger son is currently in Class 12, and she wanted to be available through this period. She has not ruled out returning to teaching, and her husband has suggested she take up guest lectures at his college, given her expanded academic background.
A convocation neither of them had planned
The two had not sat together during the ceremony, since BS and diploma students were seated in separate sections. Their joint appearance on stage was arranged after a batchmate mentioned their story at a pre-convocation dinner, and the moment was not something either of them had anticipated in advance. For Aditya, watching his mother study over these years offered a different view of her, one shaped by the same discipline and effort he associated with his own routine. The shared academic journey brought mother and son closer, adding a new dimension to their relationship beyond the degree itself.
