The Humanoid part III

An agreement for a quarter century with Indian Railways

-I-

For the year 1987, a PG seat in Paediatrics department of Cuttack medical college was the single most toughest option for an Odissa medical graduate. Those were the days when AIPMT had not come up. The AIIMS had a peculiar rule of 30% seat reservation for its own UG pass outs. Why? The roster for1987 kept one out of the two medicine PG posts in AIIMS earmarked for its own students, the other was kept aside on caste ground. No seats are available for open competition. This information was also not available. There was no PG counselling in those days. You have to opt for courses blindly without knowing the final availability of seats. The PGI, Chandigarh had this 30:40:30 ratio for carreer, written & oral evaluation. This innocuous looking pattern implies, evaluation of 60 % marks (except the written one) does not offer level playing ground for open candidature on account of language bias in history taking and difference of UG marks between universities. On top of that the 4 PG posts in Cuttack medical college were distributed one each for SC, ST, PH that year thus leaving only one seat open for general competition. In the wild ninties, unlike present days Pediatrics & Orthopedics were the first choices for PG course.
I was barred by the unavailabilty of post in medicine PG in AIIMS that year. In spite of best performance in the written test of PGI I could not decipher the local Punjabi dialect of the clinical case offered to me. One has to go to Singapore or Karachi to appear in qualifying tests for US or UK. I did not have a passport. Visa rules are also tough for medical graduates.
Thus a PG post in Pediatrics in Cuttack medical college in 1987 was the most bitterly contested seat for us.
I qualified for it in the face of toughest challenge that year. In fact, I had performed brilliantly in all the written tests that I appeared that year including UPSC but failed in any selection involving viva voce because of my vernacular background.
History again repeated 3 years after. I had 5 options available after completion of PG course. I could have continued the prestigious fellowship I was awarded by CSIR. I had been selected for a regular Railway job through UPSC with a offer of post in Bombay. Senior Residency in Delhi was available. Higher studies were frowned upon by my well wishers in view of a regular UPSC job under my belt. I always had the option of setting up a private practice in Cuttack itself, my home town or could have tried for a teaching post in Peadiatrics. At this time my elder brother who was settled in Texas sent me an offer of sponsership in Texas medical school. I was utterly confused with too many offers in my plate.

It seems that year I slipped into the choice paradox of Barry Schwartz and came out with the most difficult 20 years of my life

Flattered with so many options, I made a blunder of combining all the options together to finally lose all the advantages. After all you can not have your cake & eat it at the same time. I accepted my Railway post in Bombay so that I can go to Karachi for clearing USMLE & then join in Texas Medical school thus optimal utilisation if the multiple offers I had with me. I had to clear the USMLE before getting a work permit in US. Well decisions are taken with available options which may later on found to be blunder with retrospective wisdom of today.
It was February of 1990.

I was on top of Everest of my career. It is logical that after scaling the heights of Everest you are left with only one option of going down. And down did I go for 20 non stop years since then.

-II-

To make a long story short, I was transferred out of Bombay before I could arrange my passport and venture out to Karachi for USMLE. I was struck up with the wheels and wagon of Indian Rail for the next 25 years.
A quarter of century and I thought it was only a stop gap arrangement till l settled down to more serious business of life and child care.

Man is not given to know his lot.
How true yet how painful.•