Good evening everyone.
Graduation. A day for the celebration of those who have achieved something special and unique. For us it is not merely an event for getting the degree but an occasion to honour the achievements that have taken place over 5 and half years of blood sweat and tears. and I mean blood in the literal sense, we are doctors after all. Today is not merely to honour these graduates sitting here but to thank two other groups of people who made this possible. It is as much a celebration of their efforts as it is ours. They are our teachers and parents. These teachers who helped fill our once empty minds with useful information to ensure we did not have to stay back in college. We have no idea about the difficulties they faced in this arduous task but we can say, with pride, they did a great job. And the second group, our parents. The sacrifices our parents made to see us here are tremendous. The love they gave us unconditional. Thank you for all this.
It seems like yesterday but it was 5 and half years ago that we walked through those very gates, nervous students worried about what the world held for us. And yet in this nervousness there was a certain cockiness as we had done something that very few are privileged to do. Enter the medical field. Be doctors. Be those special pillars on which a healthy society stands. Trust me all that arrogance and self importance we had vanished the moment our lessons started. How tough they were.
Formalin filled bodies we had to dissect, chemical cycles we had to learn, experiments we had to perform, records we had to submit. We did have a steep learning curve.
To add to this some of us had the burden of staying away from home. Anyone who has eaten mess food will agree it sure is a burden. We struggled and yet coped well with the rigours of medicine. We worked so hard that we were perennially wearing a smell of formalin, the dobhis who washed our aprons can attest to that. Hard work though paid off and we passed.
We entered the second year and encountered something special. It was the clinical year. We discovered the best part of being a doctor. The doctor patient relation.
It was special the feeling of wearing a stethascope around the neck walking in the wards, talking to patients. We were on cloud no.9. But with all this joy came more responsibility. We faced 4 new subjects not to mention we had to learn a whole new art; conversing with the patient. But we did have eighteen months to learn them. And with typical efficiency of a student we spent our time hanging out with friends. We had amazing late night gossips in the hostel, boys and girls hostel might I add, a ride to the railway station at midnight for a cup of tea, our birthday parties we celebrated with gusto, the cricket world cup we watched with a fervour of a true Indian fan, all college and inter college functions we attended, some we hosted. We participated in college culturals some of us even becoming models for a day to walk the ramp. We were truly living the happy life of a carefree student.
Imagine when we woke up one day and found our 18 months shrunk to 2 and books were just lying there gathering dust. Well it was late nights all over again, this time though with a difference. We had books in our hands and our lips were sealed. Alls well that ends well the year sure ended well. A distinction no less to brag about.
We entered what is a little inappropriately known as the honeymoon phase. A year of a little free time and we made use of that in the most constructive way. We represented the college in Delhi, won in two competitions there. We again made plans for trips; we even fell in love, and had our hearts broken. Now these are the kind of broken hearts that even our esteemed chief guest will find difficult to fix. But time heals all. Especially when you have a shortage of time and exams were fast approaching. Fear of failure and our books helped us and kept at bay any emotion we might have had. Long hours in the library were our main activity. Going to the movies during preparation holidays, all unbeknown to teachers and parents were our other activities, butthey did help us relax.
Yet again we worked our last minute miracle. We cruised into fourth year. We decided to put all our extracurricular activities on hold. We failed badly, for it is a tradition of mrmc for the boys and girls hostel to host the ganesh festival. There started a fierce rivalry to see which of us could do a better job.
Being from the boys hostel I am inclined to says ours was better, but if I were honest I would have to say we both did a great job, good enough to win us the award for best design in gulbarga.
As I run thru these memories nostalgia hits me. The things we achieved, while great, seem insignificant in front of the relationships we made. I made friends here who will be a part of my life forever, had my first roommate, had my first crush, all in this lovely place.
I took a transfer away from mrmc during my internship. Those few occasions that I met my friends made me realise that though locations may change our relationship will not
It was a real pleasure working among these special people.
I came with misconceived notions of a rosy little world. I thought everything is always right and the world revolved around me.
In this place I realised the fallacy of my thinking. We are all part of a large system. That does not mean that we lack for identity though. Through hard work and perseverance we have made a mark in this system. 5 years ago I walked in here happy, because I was achieving my childhood ambition. I walk out of here today proud because I achieved what I set out to do, and yet I feel a little sad because I am leaving behind something that is special to me.
I have often read these words from Harrisons text book of internal medicine
No greater opportunity or obligation can fall the lot of a human being than to be a physician. In the care of the suffering he needs technical skill, scientific knowledge and human understanding. He who uses these with courage, humility and wisdom will provide a unique service for his fellow man and will build an enduring edifice of character within himself. The physician should ask of his destiny no more than this and he should be content with no less.
We the graduates today are on our way to fulfilling this glorious destiny. We came in here rough crude teenagers. We walk out proud confident doctors. In this transformation We are lucky to have parents such as you for giving us this chance and supporting us through all our tough times. For that I thank you once again. We are honoured to have teachers such as you who have instilled in us every skill required and shown us every emotion needed to be a kind humble honest and good physician. Your words will always be remembered revered and respected. We are lucky to have each other as classmates and collauges of the future. For this you will always be loved orions. And most importantly we are privileged to be graduating as doctors from this wonderful institute as . For this I have no words to say only emotions to feel..
WE LOVE YOU MRMC. Thank you
