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Education Plus
Reflections of a medico
ARUN GAUTHAM
Andhra Medical College:
The chilly December wind was inflicting shivers down our spines and but the season’s insolence could not impede the brisk pace of dusting in our house, that pre-Christmas morning. As I cleared the tenacious cob webs that accumulated for a year, my eyes fell upon a bunch of fragile rectangular paper- my father’s diary.
The moments that followed replaced my festive elation by my dad’s maudlin writings that exposed his anxiousness regarding my future which also reflects the mood of every medico’s guardian.
Excerpts-“five years ago when we lived in a ramshackle house with a leaking roof and fissured walls, I realized that my son got a medical seat.
Medicine, I knew, was too grandiose for a measly clerk’s son to pursue.
My wife’s rusted sewing machine could hardly add to my meagre income and my daughter’s study had to relegated, for my family to set on this academic adventure. So, I resolved to flex an extra muscle, decided to shed extra weight, lest I should trample upon the lofty ambition of my progeny.
Midnight oil
As days passed, my son sauntered with a white coat over his shoulders and massive textbooks in his hands. Before examinations, he burnt midnight oil, lost weight, experienced pain of hefty syllabi in solitude which finally culminated into a bearable percentage in first year.
Gradually I reared the feeling that my son was being groomed into a high class medical professional.
Crumbling finances
Meanwhile, finances of the family crumbled like a sand palace on a harsh beach. My son’s hostel and exorbitant establishment costs made matters worse.
My wife’s asthma exacerbated by cotton dust and the rustle of stitching clothes were substituted by her incessant coughing. My daughter had to enter college and her admission into corporate institute was a death blow to my economy.
Still I remained confident that investing in children’s education was the best option for a parent.
In the mean time my neighbour’s son got selected to an IT company which awarded an astronomical salary. This triggered depression and envy in me, but then I turned complacent that the sacrifice of time was essential for the boon of Hippocrates.
Comfortable study
I kept sending my son, a sum of three thousand rupees per month, compromising our allocation of ration to see that he has comfortable study. Every vacation, I countdown the number of years I still have to finance my son before he has independent life.
In the midst of all this emotional turmoil, I recently heard that my son’s course is being extended by another year, which means another year of forbearance and monetary distress.
His mother waits for his magic therapy against breathlessness and his sister longs for his empty hands to bring forth some fruit. I, as a father have nothing to expect for a decent living in the end days of life.
But is it fair that we have to wait for so long for that moment? More importantly, how will the rural poor benefit when inexperienced students are posted in places meant for qualified doctors? How will the health standards improve without required infrastructure?
These and many more thoughts tickle my mind as I leave for advertising for selling the sole piece of fecund land that I reserved for my daughter’s marriage.”
This is a heart of a medico’s parents that speak not just about financial burden and uncertainty in their lives.
The proposal to extend MBBS course is replete with problems and the systems have to consider the perspectives of all stakeholders among whom parents are severely affected.
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