’If you know him, your childhood was awesome’, read the caption, and his pictures were enough to send social media into a nostalgic overdrive. Viivek Mashru, who played the role of Inspector Vivek in the cult show CID, has been overwhelmed ever since he resurfaced in the limelight.

“My wife told me about my picture going viral. I had never thought this would happen to me,” exclaims Mashru, who quit acting in June 2012. What further shocked many was a tweet claiming that Mashru has become a professor at a Bengaluru university now.

Well, he clears the air: “I oversee the function of an entire department at the university; it’s a leadership position. I am transitioning out of that too now in July.”

The original contract for Mashru was only for three months, but CID’s creator kept extending it, and his stint ended up being for six years. Then one fine day he decided to quit acting and go backpacking, and later went on to complete his higher education in Singapore. Mashru holds a Master’s in International Business and a PG diploma in Data Science and Business Analytics.

The transition from being a celeb to leading a life away from the spotlight was tough: “If I ever broke a signal, the police would stop me, realize I am in CID, salute, and let me go after an autograph. If I went to a temple, they would take me for VIP darshan... so from that to travelling by bus, waiting in queues, etc. the transition was difficult. But by God’s grace, I had a good ecosystem.”