At the recent convocation of IIT Madras, Jigisha Tailor and his son Aditya Kapadia they took the stage together to collect their titles. Jigisha is 45 years old. Aditya is 21. Neither had planned to finish at the same time, and neither expected to be called up together. Jigisha spent 16 years teaching electronics at an engineering college in Bharuch, Gujarat, before family responsibilities took 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 program became a family decision
Aditya enrolled IIT Madras Online Bachelor of Science (BS) in Data Science and Applications in 2021, at the age of 18. The Covid-19 pandemic had closed campuses across the country, so an online degree from IIT Madras carried the same practical weight as any other option available at the time. Data science and artificial intelligence (AI) interested him on their own merits, regardless of the circumstances of the pandemic. At that time, online students also had to be enrolled in a face-to-face institution, so Aditya started the IIT Madras course along with a diploma at a university in Ahmedabad. This changed once the senate of IIT Madras declared the online BS degree equivalent to a regular four-year course. Aditya dropped the diploma and continued solely with the IIT Madras program. Jigisha initially watched from the sidelines. The course work spanned statistics and systems, close enough to his background in electronics to feel familiar and different enough to feel new. Aditya encouraged her to sign up, and by the end of 2022, she enrolled, according to The Indian Express.
Balancing studies, housework and a gap of decades
Restarting academic life after years away from formal studies was not immediate. Jigisha needed time to relearn math and statistics before the material became manageable again. He relied on the institute’s live doubt-clearing sessions, some of which went past midnight, along with a WhatsApp group of his batchmates. He kept his course load light, taking one or two subjects a semester, unlike Aditya, who often took four at a time. The flexible pace of the program made it possible for both working professionals and returning students. Her daily routine began around 4:30 in the morning, with studying finished at seven, followed by homework and more courses until the early afternoon. Not everyone around him understood the decision. Extended family members asked why he was going back to school at this stage of life. At home, however, the reception was different. Her husband, also a university professor, supported her through difficult phases, even at times when she doubted that continuing the course was worth the pressure. His father-in-law kept track of his project deadlines, and his mother-in-law, who used a wheelchair, also stayed involved in his progress.
From study partners to academic competitors
Over time, Jigisha and Aditya’s relationship went from father and son helping each other to something closer to comrades. Both pursued the same academic goals, and a sense of competition developed around the “S” grade, the program’s highest distinction awarded to the top 5 to 10 percent of students, above the high-distinction “A” grade. Aditya, having passed his diploma subjects earlier, had a head start and guided his mother through the later stages of the programme, including live and online proctored exams.
Life after graduation
Aditya completed his bachelor’s degree in 2024. He interned as a data science intern at Syngenta before receiving a full-time position with the company. Jigisha finished her program at the same time, but decided to take a break before looking for a job. Her youngest son is currently in class 12 and she wanted to be available during this period. She has not ruled out a return to teaching, and her husband has suggested that she take guest lectures at his university, given her extensive academic background.
A call that neither of them had foreseen
The two did not sit together during the ceremony as undergraduate and graduate students were seated in separate sections. Their joint appearance on stage was arranged after a bandmate mentioned their story at a pre-convocation dinner, and the timing was not something either of them had foreseen. For Aditya, watching his mother study during 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, bringing a new dimension to their relationship beyond the degree itself.