There is no right age to follow your passion. The 82-year-old Jagdish Prasad Sharma, after retiring from his position as an engineer, has now decided to follow his passion for music. Despite his age, Sharma has embarked on a journey to pursue a PhD in music.

He has enrolled himself in the Murali Manohar Town Degree College in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. Jagdish Prasad Sharma holds a diploma in mechanical engineering. He completed his studies at the Government Polytechnic College, Lucknow. After this, he was recruited as a junior engineer in the Uttar Pradesh government irrigation department.

According to media reports, Jagdish Prasad Sharma said that he has been interested in music since childhood. However, the circumstances didn’t allow him to move forward with his dreams. In the hustle and bustle of life, he could not pursue higher studies in music. While interacting with the media, he said that the inclination towards engineering was always present in his life.

On his decision to pursue PhD in music, Sharma said that a person’s passion should always remain alive. It acts as driving fuel in the life of a person, he added. “Even though I have grown old physically, my dream of becoming a musician is still young,” he said.

This new innings of his life may have come as a shock for his family but it surely has inspired many people in the world. Arvind Upadhyay, professor of music at Murali Manohar Town Degree College, praised Sharma’s brave approach towards life. He said that he is inspiring hundreds of students by pursuing PhD in music at this age.

PhD in music is a research-based course that focuses on the details of the music while researching for discoveries in it. Some of the areas which can be covered during this course are Historical Musicology, Composition, Analysis, Music Cognition etc. The candidates who complete this course generally become music educators and researchers. Interested students must hold their Master’s degree with more than a 50 per cent aggregate score to become eligible for this course. It also depends on the institutes. The candidates must possess quality music skills as well.