Advanced learning took on a whole new meaning at Mumbai University’s convocation. Marking a new academic trend, this year’s audience saw several retired professionals well over the age of 70 who were cheering vigorously not for their children or grandchildren, but themselves, as they accepted their PhD certificates with great pride.

For 78-year-old Kokila Shah, education has been a lifelong pursuit, interrupted only by the demands of family life and a battle against cancer that began in 1996. The senior citizen, who collected her PhD in Philosophy, said, “I am a lifelong learner. Age is just a number and the human body is perishable, but what defines us is knowledge.”