Knock knock. Who’s it? A Doc

Its been over 2 weeks now and life continues to drive me along (baduku jaTakabanDi vidhi adara saheba! How true!), communication with others has already taken a backseat, I’ve fallen off track into my present world, a mundane unusual routine…only interrupted once in a while by my mobile frantically buzzing with ‘forwards’. They always bring a smile upon my face now, no matter how pathetic they are or no matter who sent them…I instinctively reply back with my own forward which relates to something or some incident which related to us….. No one will ever notice the connection…but, I have to do it anyhow.

Suddenly a flutter ran down my heart and a heart-wrenching wail!!... No… nothing happened to me but its just my new ring tone, mobile buzzing in my shirt pocket.

Lokave heLida matidu
RGUHS saarave keLidu
Paassago chinte illi maaDabaradu
Marksina moolavelli keLabaradu
MBBS maaDabaradu
maaDidare PG entrance ge hedarabaradu!!

( A crude translation for benefit of non-kannadigas-
World is going gaga
Listenin to RGUHS saga
You gonna clear it easily here. Don’t worry
But for the marks that u r going to get, well I’m just sorry!!
Being doctor is not a bright sight
Pg entrances will give u a real fright )

It’s a nice ripoff of an old famous kannada song from film ‘Premaloka’ (I think! ).
It has been nicely molded by an unknown craftsman to fit it excellently to the life of RGUHS medical graduate. This got me thinking….

As I said, its been over 2 weeks now since we had our ‘Graduation Day’, one of the most important days of our lives where you are made to stand and take the Hypocrate’s oath, ( it rather hypocritical, if u come to think of it) asking to embrace the world without asing for any gratitude in reply (I don’t see how that can happen!). We went there all ’Suited up’ for the jubilious occasion on a chilly morning. Yes, a morning!! It was supposed to be a pleasant evening, but as the college management wanted to impress the prize-catch of a Chief-guest who was planning to leave by afternoon,so, it was altered. Management does not bother about the graduates or their family members who had to struggle to get away from work on a Monday morning, as long as they get a few more ‘grants’ from ICMR.

Anyway we were all there, the last time the whole batch together at one place. We in our most respectable attires, happy and content posing for the photos…until the curtains fell on our appearance. We were given our robes and hat which made us look DORKIER than ever and throwing all our comb-wars of the morning to set the hair-style right into a drain. Ok ok it was supposed to be an honour to be in that dress and all, but surely it was dorky and few years down the line we will be pleading to people that it is ‘really me’ in the photo, who’ll be like ‘Naa… don’t try to pull a fast one on me’!!!

After being bellowed a few times to maintain silence on that solemn occasion we marched into the celebration hall to take our places. The function moved on with all the speeches and us taking the oath, finally we were called on stage to receive our certificates and a badly printed blue booklet, a so called yearbook! (Cant even hope to compare it with our own ‘Discharge summary’) Having told us several times not to mess up, the organizers themselves messed up a few times by making few to wait on stage till they found their misplaced certificates and calling few names improperly ( mine being one of them, imagine that. It drained all the smile out of me then, well now, I have a good laugh about it) It got interesting when the time for students opinion came. I could almost see our dean’s heart thumping for it could have made a real difference in the chief guest’s mind and thus the ‘grants’ depended upon it. Suspense eroded and our colleagues spoke like true students, about the real Ramaiah and did not sugarcoat it. A surprise speech by one of the parents really brought out nostalgia in all of us. Finally.. the cherished tradition of throwing the hats, we did it twice with the roar erupting from all our hearts were being solidified in the 100s of cameras around us. We were all there…one last time… together… many I might never see again…. As the roar settled down and students dispersed a tremendous gloom set over me, severing me from the rest. I could not look at the scene anymore. I had an obligation which saved me from the rest of the evening though I utterly regret having missed the last encounter with the group. I was glad it was over. Driving back home I came up with a ripoff of my own – a famous movie sentence, from all the graduates stepping into this mad, bad world –

”We will not give up without a fight
We will not vanish into the night
We will survive, for
Today we celebrate our ‘Graduation Day’”
(Lousy, I know… but atleast I came up with something…..he he…)

Suddenly one more wail and I snapped back into my real world realizing what a simple forward can do to your mind. Read the second forward and instinctively replied back with one which revolved around ‘pens’,….I’m sure he’ll never realize the connection…. but , I just had to……