My PhD Journey

Discovering one’s passion is a continuous, sometimes a lifelong journey. It takes

many moments of thoughtful self-reflection, attention and action to find the topics, tasks and
industries that make you feel excited. How one might integrate one’s passions into life varies
significantly from person to person. Some people choose to pursue their passions as an
amusement outside the ambit of their work, while others prefer to dedicate their whole day to
their passions. The choice one makes depends on what the passion is and whether or not it is
easily transferred into something sustainable and substantial. Well, against this backdrop I
always wished to be a researcher, particularly in English language and literature. In fact, I
never studied English language and literature during my graduation and post-graduation, and
if I have an English Master Degree, it is because of whims and nothing else. But I always
love to be associated with learning and teaching English which ultimately made me lenient
towards pursuing a PhD degree in English.

As the director of a job-grooming organisation called Ravenshaw Helpline, I remain

busy in developing the English speaking skill of my students and also making them
employable. I prepare literature for them and make keep them motivated with learning by
doing. I make them participate in group discussions, personal interviews, forums,
presentations, seminars, etc. That is why I always want to learn a lot for myself and also for
my students. I have an aura to know something new, something novel. Hence, I started
dreaming for a PhD degree! Our higher education system has expanded at a simply
phenomenal rate during the 21st century - and it shows no sign of stopping. This rapid growth
in the number of individual universities is also producing a range of PhD research
opportunities, ranging from cutting-edge science and engineering projects to unique
programmes exploring the country's own diverse history and culture. I started a research on
enrolling for a PhD degree at any of the universities in Odisha. Finally, I wrote an entrance
examination successfully for ensuring my PhD admission at Utkal University of Culture,
Bhubaneswar. What makes the entrance examination memorable for me is the result. To my
utter surprise, I stood first in the examination and was allotted a special roll number as
01/LL/2015.

The actual journey started rather on an interesting note from my work place, i.e.
Ravenshaw Helpline, Cuttack to Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar. The university
was yet to be popularised as a place for research, but was one of the best options for me at
that point of time. It came into existence by virtue of an ordinance by the state government
promulgated on the 9 June, 1999, which was later replaced by “Utkal University of Culture
Act 1999’’. It was established as a teaching-cum-affiliating university. It was set up in order
to engage itself to preserve, promote, propagate and protect the richness of our cultural values
by way of making substantive accomplishment through study, research, documentation and
continuing education. The University was recognized by the University Grants Commission
(UGC) on 1 December, 1999, under Section 2(f) of the U.G.C Act, 1956. It has also been
accredited by the Association of India Universities (AIU) since 1 April 2000. After cracking
the entrance examination, I was offered an admission as a PhD candidate in the Faculty of
Language and Literature.

This is how I started my PhD journey in 2015. I was happy and at the same time
worried, because I was going back to the classroom as a student after a long time. But I was
completely alone. The initial research problem that I explored, was to find out the exact area
of research. After a lot of digging into literature and trying out a couple of directions, I
realized it was quite a hard problem. So I conveyed it to a good number of teachers as I was
yet to get a supervisor. I met Prof. Dr. D.K. Ray, a retired professor who had given shape to
one of my English books, English Mantra, published by Partridge, a Penguin Random House
Company. Ravenshaw Ratna Awardee, Prof. Ray was adored for his intense love towards
English language and literature. I am fortunate enough to come in contact with such an
illustrious son of Odisha who had inspired me to pursue my research in the area of
‘translation’. But, he was preoccupied and sent me to meet Dr. Kalyani Samantray, Dr.
Jatnidra Nath Nayak and Dr. Himanshu Sekhar Mohapatra, all were professors in the
Department of English, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. Regrettably, all of them were
upfront regarding accepting me as their scholar. It was because all of them had to accept the
UGC guidelines of having five scholars at a time and all of them had finished their quota.

Hence, I was alone once again. But Prof. Himanshu Sekhar Mohapatra was
benevolent enough to suggest me the name of Dr. Goparanjan Mishra, former Principal of
J.K.B.K. (Govt.) College and a visiting faculty to Utkal University. Dr. Mishra has worked
on Indian English Fiction for his Ph.D. and has presented papers at different Indian
Universities. Some of his research articles have been published in National Journals like
“The Indian Journal of English Studies, The Critical Endeavour”, etc. He has translated into
English some Odia poems of the internationally acclaimed poet Jayanta Mahapatra and also
the Hindi poems of the great poet, lyricist and film-maker Gulzar. His “The Sun and the
Candle: Some Poems for the Young” has been widely appreciated. He is also known for
translating into Odia stories of Rabindranath Tagore, O. Henry, Anton Chekov, Somerset
Maugham, Khuswant Singh and Ruskin Bond. Ultimately I met Dr. Gopranjan Mishra with
all my testimonials and publications. I also shared with him about my intimacy with Prof.
Ray. He agreed to be my supervisor.

It was a unique experience to attend the Pre-PhD Workshop at Utkal University of

Culture. It continued for more than six months usually on weekends. Many teachers from
Utkal University were taking our classes. I used to sit on the front bench and was very
energetic to attend all the lectures sincerely. That is why the results of my written
examination after the Pre-PhD Workshop at the university went very well. Wow… eventually
I was permitted to go ahead for the final presentation before the SRC (Subject Research
Committee) to select the topic for my research. This phase of my PhD journey was the
toughest. I remember Prof. Ray helping me out at that time. He had suggested to finalize a
topic of my passion, a topic that would keep me interested throughout my research journey.
He also strongly recommended me to follow my supervisor’s advice keeping my choices
intact. He said, “After all, you are on your way to becoming a doctor and an independent
researcher. You will have to work on this subject for at least 3 or 4 years, so you should make
sure you like it.” I was just tangled. Then somebody gave me the idea of making a research
on Campus Novels in India. I also prepared a synopsis on that for presenting it before my
PhD supervisor, but in vain. Again I was helpless. Finally, Dr. Goutam Patanaik, the son of
the celebrated historian, Prof. Dr. Jagannath Patnaik, came to my office to get coaching on
IELTS, to get a visa to go to Britain. He told me about his father’s work “Raktatirtha Eram”.
That was a turning point during my research trip. “Raktatirtha Eram” (Odia, 1986) by Dr.
Jagannath Patnaik is a great work. Though labelled as a book on history, the literary value of
“Raktatirtha Eram” is unmistakably immense a fact for which it was awarded by Odisha
Sahitya Akademi in 1986 under the category of ‘Essay - Criticism’. The book, apart from
being written in a popular reading form, is well documented and a “Knowledge Text”. In line
with serious research work, it has footnotes to corroborate events and appendices with copies
of original documents. The work is based on British records, enquiry commission reports,
confidential letters, reports of the officers, newspaper writings and above all on personal
interviews with a number of freedom fighters, affected persons and government officials who
were alive by the time the book was brought out. Hence, by all standards, it is a serious
research work, which has been highly praised by eminent scholars and historians like Dr.
Harekrushna Mahatab and Prof. Manmath Nath Das. So I went ahead. My supervisor was
very cooperative. I decided to take up ‘translation’ as my research area with “Raktatirtha
Eram” at the centre.

As a final point, I started my PhD journey with ‘translation’. Translation study as an

academic research area has expanded massively in recent years. It was formerly studied as a
language-learning, but now it has been widely used to popularise “Knowledge Text”.
“Knowledge Text” translation is the first step towards the goal of establishing translation as
an industry. All textual materials meant for the dissemination of knowledge constitute the
corpus of “Knowledge Texts” for National Translation Mission. At present, NTM is engaged
in the translation of all pedagogic materials related to higher education in 22 Indian
languages.

After getting the registration number for research, concluding my Pre-PhD Workshop,
getting my favourite topic for research, I was really euphoric. But the hardship was on an
anvil. The book “Raktatirtha Eram” is written in classical Odia. I found it very tough to
translate. Then I met my supervisor. Without providing any personal assistance, he suggested
me to meet Dr. Jatnidra Nath Nayak, the popular translator of Odisha who is famous for
translating many classical Odia books into English. I was embarrassed. I realized that my
PhD supervisor was not competent enough to guide me, an impression which did not last
long. On the other hand, looking at my helplessness and not knowing my translation skill, Dr.
Nayak suggested me to pay and get translated which I did not like. So the real struggle
started. I started translating the book on my own merit which took almost six years. In
between, I could handle the anxieties of my supervisor, want of resources, unavailability of
time for translation, my father’s death (2017), COVID-19, my elder brother’s death (2019),
officials in the university longing for tips, so on and so forth. The rest is history. I would
consult Odia professors, dictionaries, placate to my supervisor, paying tips to the university
officials, etc. Finally, I completed my thesis.

In India, as per the UGC guidelines, you have to publish your research findings at
least in two international journals (journal having ISSN registered number with UGC
credentials) before you submit your thesis for Pre-submission presentation. I had done it
much before. Two ISSN journals had published my articles on ‘translation’. So I was ready
for Pre-submission. Then on 20th September, 2021 I got a call from the University to go for a
Pre-submission Presentation. I did it and did it with style. The members of the SRC allowed
me to go for the final submission.

In due course, my thesis was evaluated by two popular professors. It was well-
appreciated by Dr. Indranil Acharya of Vidyasagar University, West Bengal and Dr.
Charuchandra Mishra of Kirodimal Government Auto. College, Chhattisgarh. Dr. Jatindra
Kumar Nayak, former Professor, Utkal University, and Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohanty, former
Reader of Ravenshaw University also valued it. Then came the PhD viva voce. On 6th May,
2022 I was called by the university to face it. It was a bizarre experience to describe that day.
The university students had a strike on that day. The VC of the university was log jammed.
But I had to attend the PhD viva voce online. Yes, the same thing happened. I had to run from
the strike. I assembled all the resource persons online and cracked the PhD viva voce. The
dream came closure. On 17th June, 2022 the university notified about me getting qualified for
the PhD. I was spell-bound to listen the news. The much awaited degree was conferred on
me.

One of the most common problems for PhD students is the feeling of isolation. PhD
candidates often work alone, having a few or sometimes no other people on their project.
Sometimes this happens because of the issues arising between PhD students and their
supervisors. Supervisors are part-bosses, part-mentors, and occasional friends. It is an odd
combination, the balance of which sometimes can be hard to maintain. When disagreements
surface - and of course, over 6/7 years it is only natural that they will - some students can feel
that they have to defer immediately to the wishes of the more senior and experienced
supervisors. The same thing has also happened with me. But I had to manage. I owe my PhD
supervisor a lot for everything he has done for me.

The best universities have extensive programs for helping the PhD scholars. But my
university has none. It has a little resources for research. It does not provide any experienced
supervisor. Yet, it is my university and I am proud of it.

- Dr. Janardan Mishra