New Delhi: Lal Chand Godara, an 85-year-old former soldier from Haryana, has completed his Master of Arts degree from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), proving that learning has no expiry date. He resumed his studies at the age of 76 and has now earned his MA.

Godara’s achievement has made him a quiet inspiration in his community and beyond. After a career in the armed forces, he returned to academics in his late seventies, attending to coursework and examinations alongside students many decades his junior.

IGNOU, India’s national open university, allows learners of all ages to study at their own pace through distance education. It has long been a route for working adults and senior citizens who could not complete formal education earlier in life.

Eyes on a PhD or a law degree

Having completed his MA, Godara now hopes to pursue either a PhD or a law degree. His plans reflect a determination to keep learning rather than slow down, even as he enters his mid-eighties.

Pursuing a doctorate would involve years of sustained research, while a law degree would open up a fresh academic discipline for him. Either path would make him one of the oldest research scholars or law students in the country.

A lesson in lifelong learning

Godara’s journey fits a wider push toward lifelong learning, where education is no longer seen as something that ends with youth. Open and distance universities across India report growing enrolment among older learners, many of whom study alongside jobs, farming, or family responsibilities.

For young students who drop out or delay their degrees, stories like his carry a simple message: the classroom never closes. What matters is not the age at which you start, but whether you keep going once you do. His story has been widely shared as proof that age is no barrier to ambition, and educators say such examples inspire both young learners and working adults who postponed their education.