From A Small Rented Room To A Global Research Fellowship
I grew up in Guwahati under difficult circumstances.
When I was in Grade 6, I lost my father.
After that, my mother singlehandedly raised my elder sister and me.
We lived in rented houses for years and survived largely because of the support of relatives.
To sustain the family financially, we even had to sell a piece of land.
Life felt uncertain almost all the time.
Then another major challenge struck our family.
My elder sister, after completing her engineering degree and beginning her career, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Gradually, she became bedridden.
Watching my family struggle continuously left me emotionally exhausted.
Losing Direction Before Finding Purpose
I moved to Delhi in 2006 for higher studies.
But somewhere along the way, repeated hardships made me lose interest in academics.
I had ambition, but very little inner strength.
Then in 2010, my closest friend — who later became my wife — introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism.
Initially, I was casual about the practice.
But as my challenges deepened, I finally decided to practice sincerely.
I began chanting daimoku and doing gongyo regularly.
Slowly, clarity began emerging within me.
For the first time, I understood that the purpose of life was not merely external success.
It was to become strong and happy regardless of circumstances.
One guidance from Ikeda Sensei deeply changed my outlook:
“Life … is a constant battle against deadlock. As long as we are alive, as long as we continue challenging ourselves, we are bound to come up against difficult obstacles that block our way forward.”
(The Teachings of Victory, vol. 1, 296)
Those words reignited my passion for learning.
Supported constantly by senior leaders who often visited my tiny rented room, I learned to confront problems through prayer and Buddhist practice instead of hopelessness.
Rebuilding My Academic Journey
Gradually, my focus and confidence returned.
I completed my MSc in Physics in 2012 and later began pursuing a PhD at IIT Guwahati.
Those years transformed me deeply.
In 2016, I got married.
During a visit to SBTG, my wife and I renewed our great vow for kosen-rufu.
After that, our small living quarters at IIT slowly became a center for Gakkai meetings and encouragement.
As a chapter chief, I sincerely fostered YMD members and students.
Then in 2019, even before completing my PhD, I received an offer to work as an assistant professor at a university in Gandhinagar.
At heart, I still wanted to pursue postdoctoral research.
But my family’s financial condition demanded immediate stability.
So I accepted the job with gratitude and determination.
Balancing Research, Family, And Kosen-rufu
After submitting my thesis, I moved to Gujarat.
My wife and I quickly connected with the Gakkai family there and immersed ourselves wholeheartedly in activities.
Despite financial constraints, I continued making sincere contributions for kosen-rufu.
Meanwhile, our family grew with the arrival of our two sons, who now happily attend meetings with us.
Balancing:
Teaching responsibilities
Research work
Family life
Gakkai activities
was often exhausting.
But my wife and I supported each other completely.
The university position gave me opportunities for both teaching and research.
Determined to strive beyond the ordinary as Sensei’s disciple, I worked sincerely and successfully guided three PhD students.
Still, my dream of postdoctoral research abroad remained alive quietly within me.
Advancing Together With Youth
In 2023, I took responsibility as YMD deputy zone chief.
I prayed earnestly for every member’s growth and regularly visited even distant outstation units.
Slowly, many YMD members began reporting remarkable victories:
One YMD secured a job in Japan after repeated rejections
Another completed his PhD and landed a prestigious role
That year, I:
Conducted more than 100 dialogues
Reached out to 20 Young Lions
Supported regional statistics activities
As leaders unitedly prayed for inactive members to reconnect, the district I supported as HDC experienced tremendous growth.
Forty members attended the May 3rd Meeting in 2024.
Seeing members grow gave me immense joy and conviction.
A Home For My Mother After 42 Years
One of my deepest prayers concerned my mother.
For 42 years, she had lived in rented houses.
In 2024, I finally purchased a flat in Guwahati.
For the first time in her life, my mother moved into her own home.
That moment carried enormous emotional meaning for our family.
It felt like decades of silent struggle had finally begun transforming into stability and dignity.
Challenging An Impossible Dream Again
In September 2024, I decided to apply for a prestigious international fellowship in science and arts.
The application process was extremely demanding.
Midway through the process, I was diagnosed with chikungunya.
I suffered:
High fever
Severe body pain
Extreme exhaustion
Still, my determination did not weaken.
I completed and submitted my research proposal despite the illness.
My work focused on developing plasmonic heterojunctions for pollutant degradation aligned with the SDGs.
At the same time, I continued striving vigorously in Gakkai activities.
Toward Youth Sports Festival 3.0 in Ahmedabad, I served as one of the program coordinators.
I:
Reached out to YMD members
Supported planning and execution
Chanted 100 hours of daimoku for the event’s success
Many nights, I either stayed awake late or woke up before dawn to continue chanting and preparing.
A Global Breakthrough
YSF 3.0 became a tremendous success.
Then, soon afterward, came the breakthrough that felt almost unreal.
I was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship by the European Commission.
My proposal received exceptional reviews and earned a remarkable score of 95.8 percent.
The fellowship included:
Full funding
A two-year research opportunity
Work at a prestigious public university in France
After years of struggle, uncertainty, and prayer, a dream I once considered impossible had become reality.
I will join the university in France on December 1, 2025.
A Guidance That Stayed With Me
“Life … is a constant battle against deadlock.”
Reflection
For many years, suffering made me believe life was mainly about survival.
But Buddhism gradually taught me something much deeper:
Challenges are not interruptions to life’s purpose — they often reveal it.
Watching my family struggle financially and medically could have easily filled me with bitterness or helplessness.
Instead, through consistent daimoku and efforts for kosen-rufu, those struggles became the very fuel for growth.
I also learned that true victory is not individual achievement alone.
Real victory is advancing together with others and creating hope in people’s lives.
The more I prayed and worked for members’ happiness, the more my own life expanded naturally.
Key Takeaways
Consistent prayer creates inner clarity and resilience.
Family struggles can become the foundation of mission.
Supporting others expands one’s own life condition.
Human revolution transforms limitations into opportunities.
Persistent effort eventually opens unimaginable doors.
Moving Forward
I now determine to:
Dedicate my life to kosen-rufu
Support every member in my zone sincerely
Raise my sons as capable disciples of Ikeda Sensei
Contribute toward BSG’s vision of one million members by 2030
Above all, I will continue striving to prove through my life that no circumstance can limit the limitless potential within human beings.