4th August ,2008...the date when I started my journey as a
medico.
I was bubbling with excitement...as well as ,was a bit
apprehensive about what lies ahead for me. With all dreams in my mind ,I
entered the auditorium of our college, which was the venue for the Induction
program for the new MBBS batch also known as the Silver Jubilee Batch. I was
seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces and was guessing who among them will
become a friend for life.
As the program started , we were told about the duties and
responsibilities of a Doctor and the various aspects which makes us a good
human being and more importantly the qualities which are responsible for making
a good doctor. One thing which I still remember from that is...anybody enrolled
in a medical college can become a doctor..but the thing that distinguishes you
from others is selflessness and compassion for your patients and the community
, and thus making one a good doctor...This thing has stuck with me till
date. Time will tell whether I succeed in
becoming one or not.
We were then instructed to attend classes and the dreadful
anatomy dissections . Next day, I and my fellow batchmates officially started
our careers as future doctors. The image is still fresh in my mind..I remember
seeing the various enthusiastic faces as we were seated in a gallery and I was mesmerized by so much of diversity around me. People had come from different
parts of India and abroad , each had their own distinctive mannerisms. We were told to give our introduction and were
introduced to the basic sciences i.e. Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. I
was relieved that finally there would not be any physics or Calculus that I
would have to deal with ;)
Then came the dissection hour, I was kinda scared by the prospect
of it. But there was no other option , as it was to be a daily routine for me
for the next year. On entering the Dissection hall, the first thing that
catches you unawares is the irritating smell of formalin. It feels a bit
nauseating and irritates one's nose and eyes. If that was not enough, there
were the cadavers. The first site of about ten cadavers lying in front of you
in itself is a daunting. We were told to get used to all of it, I never
believed I would.
Somehow the days passed and we got immersed in the classes,
test tubes and Bunsen burners ( Benedict's tests and et all for biochemistry),
pricking ourselves with a lancet to get blood for various hematological
experiments for physiology ( God! It was painful.....I had spots all over the
pulp of my fingers because of continuous pricking ) and the thing I love the
most...Histology..were nothing needs to be done....we were just given slides and told to identify the organ by it's histological features with a microscope.
In addition it involved drawing a diagram of the given slide. I found my
calling and used to wait for Mondays and Thursdays( my histo class days) so
that I can use the colourful pencils to draw my heart out ( H&E
pensils...Hematoxylin- blue and Eosin- Pink).
 |
| Histology- Cross section of Umbilical Cord |
I had started getting used to the usual classes but one
thing that still bothered me was the food. But I had to gulp down whatever was
given , just like is the case with all
the people living in hostels. And the icing on the cake was ragging...not
ragging per se, but the fear of it was in itself quite a lot. Me being the
scared , timid, sensitive fellow I was always scared of all of that. I used to
be extra cautious, do whatever was told, no moustache..clean shave...shiny
shoes, used to go anywhere in groups and never used to venture out just because
of the inherent fear. But as they say, whatever has to happen, it will...the
day came, we were called for it and went ahead thinking it is better to get
over such a thing. Even though it wasn't physical or anything, it does scar a
sensitive person. But anyways...now it is over..why to think of it..It made me
even more resilient that I won't go for such a thing ever, come what may. I
took even extra precaution and moved out of the hostel to a rented room. Lived
like that, used to get calls and all to come for ragging and stuff..but I
ignored.
 |
| Sunset from a hill near Pandavpura |
Slowly time flied and it was the time for the first ever
internals. I never had a chance to read properly in the past few months and
exams were around. I, as usual, was worried as to how I would perform and what
would happen. I was not quite confident of myself and used to get scared with
the claims of my fellow batchmates that they have completed this much and
things like that. Still, I thought of giving it my best, read whatever I could
and gave the exams without any hopes that I am gonna get great marks or
anything of that sort. As it turns out , I liked the whole process and was
relieved that I did to the best of my abilities. I did really well and people
were shocked with my performance. I became somebody from a nobody within a
matter of days. I was myself in disbelief but was elated none the less.
There were people who were like you don't deserve this, you
will know what you are in the next exams and all and there were people who were
supportive of me. I looked at the positive aspect of it and moved on, it gave
me the belief that I can achieve something in life. I made it a point to work
even harder and there was nothing for me except me and my books for the next
few months..
As all this was going on, I had started to miss home
miserably, it had been almost 6-7 months since I had gone home and it was
becoming unbearable..then came January 2009 and we got holidays/post semester
break to go home for the first time..
My happiness knew no boundaries and I ran home...
In all this hoopla , I forgot to make friends and gell with
people..even though there were acquaintances but they came only when their need
arose, and left when I had nothing beneficial to offer them...
I had become alone...
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