It was the most memorable day in the book of my life so far…A day that marked the ceremony to turn to doctors from boys/girls….A day of great pride and honor for us all as well as our parents…It was the day of our convocation.
Our story dates back to 8th august, 2005 when a group of 100 aspiring doctors were brought under one ‘air conditioned’ roof of the physiology auditorium….Following are the few distinct random memories of our journey through the past 5.5 years at LTMMC and LTMGH.
- Running down the stair case like a herd of cattle to prevent being caught by the 'evil' seniors for ragging....personally, I feel it was an awesome way to get to know them.
- Cribbing when made to sit roll number wise, feeling unlucky when the girl sitting next to you didn't look so good and feeling jealous of the one who had a chick next to him thinking they would be together for the next 5.5 years.
- Fighting for the seat right in front of the teacher during the clinics...after all we were all excited in the beginning until the enthusiasm levels reduced with reality.
- Begging your partner during physiology practicals for a drop of blood when not having the guts to prick oneself...
-Feeling excited to cut the human body and the increasing impatience as each organ unfolded.....I remember how excited each one was to hold the heart in our hands for the first time as if it was some World Cup Trophy....amazed to see the liver, kidney and other organs....confusion, bluffing remembering the slide numbers in the histology practicals...
- Standing near the washbasin and discussing the reagents, chemicals, solutions involved in the biochemistry tests during the examination and then getting scolded for the same and pretending we were there only to wash the test tubes.
- Changing slides with someone else who had a well stained slide during microbiology practical examinations.
- Being excited to touch the rabbits and hamsters in pharmacology department....studying very few drugs among the hundreds and still feeling confident for the exam.
- The Forensic Medicine Head of department scolding people in some extremely hilarious ways.....no practicals until 2 days from the final exam...changing poisons with your neighbor in the exam when the one allotted was the one that you had not read.
- Getting scolded for copying from someone's journal in pathology which itself has been made after 'generations of copying' and cursing the teacher when being given 30 % of those diagrams for redrawing.
- The boring sleepy PSM lectures, the family trips to dharavi.....the 'sandas mein jaanwar wala joke'....we all went through it all.
- Knowing the ENT terminal paper a day before the exam and studying only those 6 questions.....writing 5 of them from home and sticking the supplements in the answer sheets...and on top of that, I was caught with the chits for the last 1 answer....I smile even today thinking of that.
- Studying only cataract and glaucoma for the entire year for ophthalmology exam every time.....surprisingly both those questions came in our final exam.
- The turmoil of final year can't be described in words....' Life ceased to exist, time paused, brain stopped functioning' for that 1 year to complete the portion....That anxiousness to 'just pass' the final year...In the end, everybody just prayed for anything above 50.00 %.
- The jubilation to finally hear that you had passed..the relief...( the sense of disbelief for me)...the tears of happiness....the jumping in joy for having done it finally...it sure feels like yesterday to me...
- The frustrating internship mamagiri....feeling great to get signatures for days you didn't attend....the sense of achievement to kick the wicked houseman's ass...the dinners together with the entire unit on emergency days.....the ' batting of patients'.....the ' Sion Jhadu'.....moments worth cherishing again.
- Exams came and went but with each passing year, the experience and memories of copying just kept multiplying exponentially....the open book exams, the micro xeroxes, the supplement passing, the leaking of question papers....we all did become masters of copying in 4.5 years.
- Among all these high pressure cooker days, what kept me going was the blog, the band, the college festivals....Also due credit to FIFA ( computer game) for being the only source of recreation....( I was never prepared to commit to anyone and be a part of some foolish college library couple) I remember playing FIFA with my hostel friends for 3 hours just before the PSM prelim exam.
Now the journey has ended ....the awesome years of undergraduate life are over....the time has come for us to part ways...who knows we might ever meet again or not..so before these thoughts are lost in oblivion, I thought to pen them down ( its 3 am at AHIRC as I write this behind someone's insignificant ECG).
LTMMC 2005 batch, we rocked !! We were united...then we parted ....but we united again to make it a lifetime's memorable experience....Dancers, artists, painters, actors, cricketers, musicians, jokers, writers, singers, politicians, computer technicians, walking railway and bus timetable.....you name it and we had them all.
As I finish writing this, I have a smile on my face and a little moist eyes as I'm filled with nostalgia and emotions.....I will seriously miss the awesome days, the friends, the teachers, the staff, the sisters, the mamas as I look back in time.....last few words.....I'm really gonna miss this place, I'm gonna miss my.....college days !!
