At an age when most people choose rest and retirement, 79-year-old Usha Rai has chosen classrooms, notebooks, and examinations—rewriting the meaning of lifelong learning. After defeating stage-four cancer twice, she has returned not only to life , but also to education, enrolling in an MBA in Healthcare Management nearly 45 years after her last academic pursuit.
Usha Rai calls April 2023 her “second birth.” It was then that she decided to pursue an MBA, despite having no background in technology or management. “I didn’t even know how to use a laptop,” she recalls. “Still, I bought one, practised every day, and kept learning. Missing classes was never an option.”
A former schoolteacher, Usha had earlier earned degrees in Zoology (1966) and Education (1978). Her journey, however, has been anything but easy. She battled cancer in 2003 and again in 2022, emerging stronger each time. Instead of slowing down, she accelerated her ambitions, choosing growth over fear.
Today, she attends classes regularly, takes notes diligently, and appears for exams with students decades younger than her. Her determination and curiosity have made her an inspiration to classmates and educators alike.
Usha Rai’s message to the world is simple yet powerful: “If I can do this at 80, why can’t you?”
Her story stands as a reminder that learning has no age limit, resilience has no expiry date, and life’s second innings can be just as extraordinary as the first.
