From The Topper's Desk

So the 2nd yr University results are out. AND I HAVE TOPPED MY COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!! By a whole 8 marks!!! I got a 74% (407/550), with distinction in two subjects :-) I remember having written that I simply love Microbiology and my aim is to get a distinction in that subject. Well, I achieved my aim and more - I got a distinction in Micro and in Patho. Hurray!!
The D-Day had long been prolonged and fought over. The usual rumours were in full swing every single day from last week. If any of those had been true, we'd have had 10 different results by now. The official date till yesterday afternoon was 24th February ( i.e. yesterday :-p), 5pm. Yesterday afternoon it was changed to 25th February (i.e. today), 6 pm. I was more involved in wanting to watch the ICC Cricket World Cup than being nervous about a result I had lost all excitement for!! And, in the middle of watching it, I get a phone call from a friend, " Congratulations!!! You've topped!!!", and he sounded SO happy!! I was confused, I was a little shocked, and yeah, basically CONFUSED. I said I'd go back and check it up on the net. When I did, there it was: 407/550. And the distinctions. It was really scary to start with. I mean, ME??!! Topper!! Impossible! If I've got 407, there has to be someone else who has got 408 or more. I'm just not of the kind that comes first. I come second. I come third, but never first. That 'first' is this ungettable, faraway, dreamy place that one can only fantasise about. Honestly, through  my entire second year, I never ventured to fantasise about it. It was too costly a dream.
So, you have to believe, when I heard there was a chance that I had topped, I didn't want to believe it. It was just like those morning dreams. Somebody was going to pinch me hard and burst my balloon of happiness (i'm still feeling like that. Guess, this what the unheralded Oscar Winner or that shocked Wimbledon Champion feels...and then people wonder why you don't sound as happy as they expect you to be!).
There's always a first time for everything, and this is my time. I want a few days to pass. A few days after which it will become a 100% fact : Pranjali Sharma, Topper, 2nd yr, BJMC, Pune.
I am still praying to God: Just let this be. I deserve this. Don't take it away from me, not after having given it to me, let me have a feel of it and given me a chance to feel what those people feel; those toppers feel...
So, what's it like to become a topper? Dammit, scary!!! Those Gold Medallists in the Olympics will probably have an idea about this. So you get to wear the medal, hold the bouquet, take the pictures, have the National Anthem sung.....and then you wait....for those dope test results...knowing you haven't done anything wrong, but still praying, hoping, wishing it all comes clean...yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now. I know I have done all the hard work, haven't anything wrong, but till somebody (in authority) can tell me for sure that there's no change in my results or anyone else's results, I am going to be scared and nervous about this.
Ok, so that is it. No more thinking about the bad stuff. I turn to my ultimate love : Cricket. I am going to have a lot of fun, watch the entire WC with as much dedication as last time, and have an immensely delightful and exciting time :-) :-) :-)
p.s. my next posts could well end up being a recap of the World Cup. So non-cricket-fan-readers, beware!!!

College Grind

College has begun in some sort of full flow now. We finished with our 15-day Ophthalmology posting and I realized that I really enjoy it!! Now that’s a first. I was really interested in attending all the 15 days, which, by my standards, means I simply loved it all.

Now we have ENT. This should get over on 16^th Feb. Every day I have to push myself to go there because I find it uninteresting. Maybe my opinion will change as we attend lectures, but I am not assuming that is really going to happen.

There’s a difference in the teaching in IIIrd year and that of IInd year. You could point out the better and the interesting teachers in IInd year; you know, the teachers who took an effort to make the topic worth reading , worth attending a lecture for. In IIIrd year, lectures themselves are interesting. So the teacher doesn’t matter. If he or she turns out to be good at the task, it is an added bonus. Till now, we haven’t had downright boring lectures. Guess that’s the advantage of a clinical side teaching. They add practical knowledge to the theoretical, and that makes it quite an awesome combination.  Preventive medicine however, begs to differ. Some topics are really interesting. However, the practice of the Department to make presentations by copy-pasting straight lines from Park (the textbook for PSM), makes the subject duller than a Monday morning after a long weekend! I wish they could change their method of teaching. Even students will start taking active interest, thereby, cutting the vicious cycle of bored and frustrated teachers making students more bored and frustrated.

Our Co-operative Store Book Exhibition is being held over this weekend. I was so excited yesterday to go there and buy books. I took my dad along for the cash and for an extra brain at work as well as a helping hand. We came back, loaded with books. The experience was so different. You walked around through the many sections, looking at the many textbooks on the subject, choosing whatever you want to, having fun…J My friend looked at the many Gynaecology and Obstretics books there, read some and made an instant decision that she would become a Gynaecologist. She already loves the subject, and going to the Exhibition made her resolve even stronger! That’s the strength of putting thousands of books together!

So, as compared to last year, college this year is both, boring and interesting. We have more time on our hands (obviously meant to be utilized in studying, but the mood is yet to come :-P). that gets boring at times. We have tutorials in the afternoon instead of Practicals like last year. Yesterday, we had a Medicine tutorial and I enjoyed it. Overall, I am glad I came into third year, and I know it’s only going to get better. We’re still waiting for our IInd yr examination results though. The tentative date is 28^th Feb. Usually, results get out before the stipulated date. There’s a rumour going around amongst our seniors about their results coming out anytime now. So ours would be declared around the same time. I am excited about them, but am not getting my hopes too high up. You never know how badly you might end up getting hurt in the process!!