A Botanist, Researcher, and Academician, Prof. Sunil Dutt Purohit believes that we all must give back to society in some or the other way. And with that aim in mind, he started a society to promote science, education, and research, especially in rural areas where resources are scant.

Prof. Sunil Dutt Purohit retired as a Professor of Botany & Biotechnology from MLSU, Udaipur where he served in different capacities from 1984 till 2016. He was also a Dean and the Chairman of the Faculty of Science, at the College of Science of the university.

Sunil was born and raised in Jodhpur. He received his school education in Jodhpur itself. He completed his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Botany from JNVU, Jodhpur.

Sunil shares that he wanted to be a doctor and hence after completing his B.Sc., he appeared in the RPMT. He scored marks above the cutoff. However, failing to meet one of the criteria, he could not get admission to MBBS.

Sunil says that his high school Biology teacher, late Mr. Goel had a great influence on him. Because of him only he decided to study Biology further and after completing his B.Sc., he also did his M.Sc. in Botany. Later he also did his Ph.D. in the same discipline.

Sunil says that he completed his Ph.D. well in time and he also went to the UK on a state-sponsored trip to present his research work at Oxford University. He says during his visit to Oxford University, he happened to meet many eminent scientists and biologists there who also offered him a fellowship to pursue a Post Doctoral Program in the UK. However, since he had to take care of his family, he could not accept the offer. And he came back to India and continued his Post Doctoral Fellowship at JNVU, itself.

In 1984, Sunil joined MLSU, Udaipur as an Assistant Professor of Biology. He says that in 1989, he helped set up a research laboratory at the university. In 1990, he was given a research grant by UGC to work on a research project of the commission. In 1992, upon getting a grant of 36 lakhs from GOI, he helped set up a state-of-the-art research laboratory in the Department of Science at the University.

Talking about Leadership, Sunil says that he learned Leadership and Management right from his childhood owing to the type of upbringing he was given. He believes that with proper planning things can be executed successfully.

Talking about struggles in his life, Sunil says that he came from a financially modest background, and being the eldest son in his family, he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the family. His father initially did not allow him to pursue his Ph.D. as he was not getting any grant to pursue the same. Therefore, to convince his father and also to shoulder the responsibilities, he started giving tuitions to little kids and also taught Biology at a college. He worked really hard at that time and when he finally got a research scholarship for coming first on the merit list, he decided to devote himself solely to his research career. Later, when his father passed away, he was offered to fill in his father’s job as a clerk. But he was firm on his decision to make a career in research and it was quite difficult for him to choose between the two and beat the dilemma thereof.

Sunil says that in his life, he has never considered any work to be small or big. And he taught the same to his students besides teaching them the importance of qualities like discipline, hard work, etc.

Sunil says that after his retirement from academia, he started a society for the promotion of science, education, and research with an aim to give back to society.

In his spare time, Sunil likes to do gardening. He says he grows organic vegetables in his kitchen garden. Besides, he also likes to read and write books. He claims to have written thirty books so far. He also loves to listen to ghazals.

To youngsters Sunil’s pieces of advice are manifold. He says there’s no substitute for hard work and one should never look for any shortcut to success. Besides, one should be punctual and be disciplined in life. Furthermore, one should always have firm faith in themself that they can do it.