One hundred year old Indian man gopes back to school for his PhD

An Indian man of 100 has gone back to university, saying you are never too old to learn. Bholaram Das had his birthday last week - and to mark the occasion enrolled on a PhD course in north-east Assam state. "If my son can get a PhD at the age of 55, why can't I do it at 100?" said Mr Das, possibly India's oldest student.

He was imprisoned for opposing British rule in 1930 and went on to work as a teacher, lawyer and judge in Assam before retiring in 1971. He said he was delighted to return to his studies after so many years. "I have had this in mind since I did my post-graduate in commerce from Calcutta University in the late 1930s, but could not pursue it then. I became actively involved in politics, went to jail, then had to take up a job."

The doctoral program he has embarked on involves field trips, interviews and finally writing a thesis. But the centenarian is not daunted by the challenge - in fact his ambitions have not diminished over the years. He says that he is very keen to have the prefix "Dr" before his name. His family say his bid to enter Guwahati University - where he registered to study for his two-year PhD - was received coolly.

"The university didn't want to approve the synopsis of his thesis. But he fought it out with the academics. Later they had to review their decision," his son BK Das said. "Now that he has started gathering research material, I, my brothers and other family members have taken up the responsibility to help him." For his doctorate, Mr Das plans to study a subject close to his heart - the spread of neo-Vaishnavism, a liberal stream of Hindu religion credited with breaking down social divisions in Assam.