A common question that most people- friends, family and acquaintances - shoot at PhD students is “ How long would you keep studying?” How one responds back depends on how quick-witted and thick-skinned one is. One could reply “ Well, technically I am not studying- I am a scholar and I just do research which is no way different from a regular job” . Of course, one would be laughing within oneself, though keeping a straight face, while saying this! Else, one could earn some bits of sympathy by lamenting back how PhD seems to be an endless journey, how you uncertain or clueless he/she is as to when it will, eventually, end. Worse, one might even confess that you are more uncertain on the job prospects once it ends, than about getting PhD itself! A PhD looks tantalizingly promising for many aspirants- at least for the fact that they would get a cool new prefix to their names and get public rights to brag their (presumed) expertise in their field. Other way aroun...
(pronounced vinyaattru or vignyaattru)