Kerala man earns 145 certificates from Yale, Princeton and Columbia during lockdown

Shafi Vikraman had to spend 20 hours daily to complete these courses. (Image credit: ANI)

When the country went into lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, Shafi Vikraman from Kerala decided to use it as an opportunity to enrol for online courses.

But, as the pandemic continued to rage, so did Vikraman's eagerness to learn. As a result, the resident of Thiruvananthapuram got the chance to earn more than 145 certificates after completing online courses from various universities across 16 countries.

"I started doing them (the courses) during the lockdown and spent more than 20 hours daily to complete these courses," Vikraman told ANI. Most of the courses he chose were from platforms like Coursera and WHO's learning arm and were being offered by universities such as  Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Wharton.

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Speaking about the kind of courses he preferred, Vikraman said, “I preferred to do courses in marketing but ended up with a lot of medical courses. A university like Yale is a dream for us. Now I have certifications from those universities."

Kerala: Shafi Vikraman, a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, claims that he has earned over 145 certificates from various universities virtually from 16 countries

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"I started doing them during the lockdown & spent more than 20 hours daily to complete these courses," he said (07.01) pic.twitter.com/uboPySvmJh

— ANI (@ANI) January 7, 2022

Vikraman, in his mid-fifties, was attending 20 courses simultaneously, each ranging from two days to two months. He took up diverse subjects like medical, finance, robotics, artificial intelligence, forensics, blockchain, cryptocurrency, food and beverage management and psychology.

"I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have studied all these subjects. It threw open a huge world for me," Vikraman said.

Studying for about 20 hours a day, however, came at a cost. Vikraman could not sleep properly for months. "There were months when I slept for barely two hours,” he said.

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But, emphasizing on the need for making the best out of opportunities, he added, “You can now learn from the best of universities the world over. Everyone should make use of the opportunity. I used to love the medical field when I was younger. Now I am able to learn a variety of subjects from prestigious universities. Having all these certificates with me, I feel as if I have reached somewhere."

(With ANI inputs)