A Memorable PhD Defence
Today | @ PSG Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore
30th April 2026
This morning, after having my dawn cuppa coffee, I was having a stroll through the by-lanes of Coimbatore, and I was so delighted to see two eager-beaver newspaper readers reading the day’s newspaper without a tinge of distraction on them. Felt so happy on seeing the sight, that I thought I’d click a pic of this scene for posterity’s sake!
By 10.15 am I was at PSG Krishnammal College for Women, and it felt so happy to be back at the reputed PSGK, - a vibrant Institution of repute, that has now climbed to the 9th Position in the latest All-India NIRF Rankings. Congratulations PSGK!
Dr. Mathangi, the Research Supervisor, and Dr. Sushil Jess, the Head of the Department welcomed me warmly along with a host of their vibrant colleagues. We had a very rewarding discussion from 10.30 am to 11 am over coffee, - along with their committed team of faculty members - on how both our Institutions can collaborate on various avenues.
Then at 11 am, we headed to the Conference Hall, for the PhD Viva-Voce Exam of Ms. Aiswaria Samyuktha S.
On an aside, although it was summer vacation time, and hence a holiday today - to my pleasant surprise, I was so happy to see more than 70 participants turn up to witness the Viva-Voce exam of Ms. Aiswaria.
Ms. Aiswaria made an impressive defence of her thesis on “From Anthropos to Automaton: Exploring Human - Robot Relations in the Select Novels”.
Hearty congratulations to Dr. Aiswaria on her red-letter day today, and many congratulations to her Research Supervisor, who had soulful words of appreciation for her ward.
Ever since her first UG days in PSGK, she used to come to me regularly for guidance, and for literary interactions. I am so proud to note that she has got the JRF and SRF awarded for her PhD work. Added, she used to share a lot of her reading with me. I also gave her a disciplined routine for finishing her PhD in a time-bound manner, and she meticulously did her research work and completed it in the stipulated time frame. She has been presenting papers in Conferences all across India, and she used to regularly visit libraries for her course work,
she said with a teacher’s unique sense of satisfaction, that is really beyond description.
One heart-warming incident I wish to record here -
Dr. Aiswaria in her Vote of Thanks, thanked her parents, her grandparents, all her professors, her lovely Krishnammal sisterhood, relatives, friends, well-wishers, etc. And after the Viva-Voce exam, I met with her overjoyed parents, and her father proudly introduced his Professor – Dr. Palaniappan, (who had graced the occasion along with his wife), who was his mentor and role model – and the verysame ‘grandparents’ that Ms. Aiswaria had thanked profusely in her Vote of Thanks.
“For more than 50 years, with his simplicity and dedication, he has been an inspiration to many generations of students, and I am one among them, sir,” That’s why I wanted him to be here for my daughter’s Viva-Voce to get his blessings, and my daughter cherishes him as her own grandfather, sir”, he said with gratitude beaming on his face. Dr. Palaniappan responded gracefully, and we then had a rewarding discussion after lunch, on the ‘mind of the machine’, which Dr. Palaniappan felt, has a lot of potential for future research in the field. Felt so happy on seeing this great respect the student has been cherishing all these years, for his past teachers.
On an added note, as her External Examiner, I took time to congratulate the candidate for meticulously using the UK spelling in her thesis and in her presentation as well, something that has not received considerable attention amongst practitioners and guardians of language and literature today across academia.
Secondly, in mapping posthuman thought, the candidate has drawn upon post-phenomenology, posthumanism, and psychology, to analyse how the emotional, ethical, and existential dimensions are embedded in these narratives. And in this regard, she has made use of Mark Coeckelbergh’s Linguistic Construction, Daniel Dennett’s Intentional Stance, and John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory that have provided a rigorous and solid foundation for examining the affective and sociocultural dimensions of human-robot interaction.
Congratulations Dr. Aiswaria on your successful defence today, and to her vibrant Research Supervisor Dr. Mathangi for being such a great inspiration on your ward.
A rewarding day, in every way!
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| And the Lovely Sight... |
PS: You may want to read our past blogpost HERE on why we continue to stick to the UK way of spelling this long, in India.
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