VIJAYAPURA: “Learning is a continuous process, and age is not a constraint,” they say. Ningayya Basayya Odeyar, 76, stood testimony to that by taking an MA exam conducted by IGNOU here recently.Ningayya, born at Kelur village in Hungund taluk on October 4, 1942, had served the health department for 32 years before retiring. He had joined the department as a clerk in 1967 with a BA qualification.However, his aim to acquire a higher degree made him take the PG exam — MA ( Kannada ) — from Karnataka University in 1996 as an external candidate. After clearing this, he went on to acquire PGs one after the other.After his retirement in 2000, he appeared for MA (English). He took another exam in 2016, this time in MA (Hindi). He took the exam of MA (social science) in the latest — and his fourth — as an external candidate of IGNOU’s Vijayapura study centre.Interestingly, he writes the exam using both hands. His hands take turns as and when they are tired. Ningayya is said to have written seven books in Kannada.Ningaiah told TOI that only his body is aged, and not the mind. “My hunger for knowledge is immense, because of which I have taken this PG exam. This is for my fourth PG degree,” he said.His wife Mangala Odeyar took pride as she said: “ He sets his goals high and pursues them. I’m a native of Maharashtra . When I married him, I din’t know Kannada. It was he who taught me the local language.”Prof Anil Bamagond, coordinator of IGNOU (Vijayapura centre) said Ningaiah, having a quest for knowledge, sets high goals high. “He is the proud student of our centre,” he added.

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