Medical Education Becoming Of A Surgeon

1952 - Medico Guntur - A Beginning

January 8, 2014 at 7:35am

I remember that Day - 18 July 1952 - I know the time also 3 PM Indian Standard Time - I can see what I was doing that day , hot summer day , Guntur Solar Heat Day , but for me A Day To Remember - A Day That Changed my life - me 17 years plus 4 months before my Eighteenth birthday ( due 10 November ) , I was walking home bare foot from my Andhra Christian College B.Sc. class , I am almost home , just turned into my Koritepaadu Main street and it happened - I was met by a neighbor , a gentle man , an elder , a messenger of good tidings , I am so sorry I can not remember his name , his visage a blur , but I do remember what he said to me then - ' hello , our post man is looking for you to deliver a registered letter from State Government in Madras . He wants your signature , seems to be an important letter . ' I became anxious and wanted to know where the post man has gone and the reply - ' he is on a bicycle , there he is two houses ahead , go , run , you will be able to catch him .' Yes now I could see the post man coming out of a house half a block away and I ran , but he got on to his bicycle and went ahead - so the chase began , I ran and ran and at last I met the beloved post man a block away and panting , sweating , perspiring , anxious , apprehensive I approached him and broached the matter about a registered letter for me - he looked at me , luckily he knows my father - so he did not ask for an ID - I now wonder if he had asked for my ID - what could I have done - in those days I had no ID , no idea about an ID , no Driver License , no Aathar Card , no Passport - anyway there was no problem - The Post Man Handed me the Registered Letter , Took my signature - I could sign you know not with a flourish but a simple signature both in English as well in Thelugu and he went away on his errand delivering messages to all in my neighborhood . Now There I Was 4 PM I S T about two blocks from my home - I tore open the envelope and took out the Thin Onion Skin Government Paper from inside - opened it gingerly with shaking hands and what is inside - Presto - I know You Well Wishers , Friends , Family Members are all anxious - Is it a good news or something else - what does it say - I am shaking more anxious than any of you - I can See The Government Seal on Top - Dated 15th July 1952 three days prior - It says it is from The Office Of Director Of Medical Education , Madras Presidency , I scanned the document - You Know What - It Said " Balakrishna Murthy Ramaraju , D O B 10 November 1934 , Is Selected To First Year Of First M B B S Course At Guntur Medical College , Guntur -----

rest of letter I did not see , I clutched the document along with the torn envelope , my books and ran ran to my home and shouted at the portal ' I am A Medico - I am admitted into Medical College ' - drank a glass of cool water from an earthen pot , and handed over the letter to my father -- what does the rest of letter say - next instalment - let me take a deep breath , let me change my street clothes , let me wash my feet , let me have a bath of cold water from a bucket with water drawn from the well - meanwhile my father is perusing the letter in all earnestness - he did not congratulate me as he thinks any praise will go to my head and will make me arrogant , but I know he must be happy as I can see that in his eyes , even though he appears stern and unsmiling --