
Guguloth Chandrasekhar, 29, is the first police constable in Warangal, Telangana, to earn a PhD. He based his theses on the lifestyle of the Lambada and Koya tribes.
It took Guguloth Chandrasekhar around four years to earn his PhD, juggling his studies and his career as a police constable in Warangal, Telangana, about 150 kilometres from Hyderabad. He’s the first constable in Warangal with a doctorate degree to his name.
Guguloth Sudhakar, his father, and mother Yakamma, realised that education was the only way out of poverty. Illiterate themselves, they struggled hard to ensure their son was put in a government school in a village called Surapilly. He then went on to finish his undergraduate degree from Narsampet Government College and has been unstoppable since. While he was studying for his MPhil, he was selected as a constable in 2011. The next year, he finished his MPhil just before joining the police force.
Chandrasekhar, now 29, went on to write his thesis on the Lambada and Koya tribes from the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University in Warangal.

Source: Flickr
He studied how the Lambada and Koya tribes live, their lifestyle, culture, and habits. He himself is from the Lambadi, or Banjara tribe.
Now that he has completed his doctorate, he yearns to teach students who come from backgrounds similar to his. He told Times of India, “I really wish I could teach students from social groups that are poor and come from families that are not educated. I plan to ask for permission from the department to apply for the post of a junior lecturer when the job notification for those posts are announced.”
“I want to teach and tell students not to be afraid of failure. There is no need to be nervous about studies and they should not stop till they reach their goal,” he added.
At the police department, the curiosity and excitement of having a PhD in the office doesn’t seem to cease. The superintendent of police (Warangal Rural), Ambarkishore Jha, is proud to have him as part of the force. “Education and degrees can lead to better placement within the department…It is very much possible that he will be assigned a suitable position,” he said.