Meet man, IIT graduate who went to US, quit high-paying job to become a monk at 30 due to..., his name is..

Every year, thousands of students who dream of becoming engineers aim to study at a prestigious college so that they can get a good work opportunity and a hefty package. Many students start preparing for competitive exams right after they pass Class 10. After Class 12, these students then work to get admission into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) by clearing the IIT JEE exam. The path to getting into IIT is so difficult that it is hard to understand how someone, despite getting admission, could then quit it to follow their heart and passion. Today, we will tell you about one such man who became a monk after graduating from IIT.

Who is Mahan Mj?

Born Mahan Mitra in 1968, Mahan Maharaj, known as Mahan Mj and Swami Vidyanathananda, is a popular Indian mathematician and a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He is currently serving as a Professor of Mathematics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Mahan Mj is best known for his work in hyperbolic geometry, geometric group theory, low-dimensional topology, and complex geometry.

Mahan Mj educational background 

Mahan Mj, before he became a monk, was a studious child, excelling in academics. He completed his studies at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta, till Class 12th and then went to IIT Kanpur after securing AIR 67 in JEE Advanced. With initial plans to study electrical engineering, Mahan Mj's passion shifted as he then switched to mathematics. Mahan Mj graduated with a Master's in Mathematics from IIT Kanpur in 1992.

After graduating from IIT Kanpur, Mahan Mj then joined the Ph.D. program at the University of California, Berkeley, in mathematics. After completing his doctorate, Mahan Mj also worked at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai in 1998 for a short time. 

Till 2015, Mahan Mj was a Professor of Mathematics and Dean of Research at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University. 

Mahan Mj, an IIT graduate who turned monk, rejected a high-paying job 

Mahan Mj got a high-paying job, thanks to his brilliance in academics, however, he decided to become a monk of the Ramakrishna order in 1998.  Mahan Mj speaks three languages: Hindi, English, and Bengali. He also has an understanding of Tamil after living in southern India at IMSc. About being a monk Mahan Mj once said, "I am enjoying being a monk as much as I enjoy my mathematics," he said about being a monk.

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