THE INDIVIDUALS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE IN MY LIFE JOURNEY

 THE INDIVIDUALS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE IN MY LIFE JOURNEY

The people who made me who I am today, if I keep them in my closet in this world of information technology, it is as though I am not doing any justice to my conscience and not giving credit to those who deserve it. It has long been due, but today I decided to pen down and convey my gratitude to them.

When I saw Siddhartha in my school's WhatsApp group, my childhood days flashed through my mind. He was one of the early ones who woke the sleeping genius within me although at that time I was a mediocre student. I remember vividly during one of the standard 5 classes, my class teacher was on emergency leave. So, we were scattered into two other classes(5A and 5B) and I was sent to class 5A. During the English lesson, the teacher asked me to read a paragraph from the textbook. I didn't even know which paragraph they were reading and could not even pronounce the first word of the paragraph. The English teacher then asked Siddhartha to read the same paragraph. To my amazement, he rattled out the paragraph without even opening the book and there were no mistakes in it. I was young during that time, but my inner soul felt disturbed, if he can do it, why can't I?

Well, he may not know who Naga is, but I kept track of his progress until form five. Coming back to my journey, that zeal burnt out after a while, and my childhood playfulness took over. Thus, the genius within me remained sleeping. Looking back, I have no regrets because I enjoyed my childhood to the maximum rather than being buried in books like a nerd.

Then, I entered the lower secondary with the same playfulness but there was a bit of amber this time in trying to be a genius. During form 1, I used to come last or second last in-class exams. Once a boy by the name of Rajan, who usually comes second or third in the last class, teased that I will never be able to do better than him. It sparked me that I must come to the first boy in the class by the end of the year. To achieve that dream, I put tremendous effort until it surprised my family members and even the teachers who were teaching me. True to my dream and a little help from my cousin Jega, I was the first boy in the last class and got promoted to a better class following year.

In form two and form three, I was made to sit next to a boy who speaks only English and had a peculiar character. Initially, we were very confrontational, but later we became the best of best pals till now. l also made friends with a few others in the class like Teik Lee, Hussien, and the rest. Thus, I decided no way I was going to fail and lose all these friends. So, with a certain amount of maturity and constant support from my friends, I was able to do well in the lower secondary though not up to my family's expectation.

When I went into higher secondary, there was no turning back with my mother suffering from a stroke and father dying of a heart attack. My focus was set to fulfill the dream of my family and also my childhood dream of becoming a doctor.

To achieve my dream, I had to go overseas to complete my higher upper secondary education.

In the new country, far away from home and not protected by the family, leaving behind my very ill mother at home, there was nothing else in my mind other than achieving my dream and fulfilling my mother's wish. In the new higher secondary school, I had to study all the subjects in English and also had to take up science subjects. Here, the classmates woke the genius within me by challenging me if I can do better than them! It did not demoralize me, instead, it made me work harder. In the year-end exam, I was one of the top students in that foreign school and I was offered a medical seat in one of the prestigious colleges in that country.

It was another huge hurdle for me to survive in the medical college because the best of the best students were enrolled in the college and me being an average student wasn't just good enough.

By then my mother too died, my zeal to become a doctor was very strong. At the same time, the thought of learning how to prevent death was my concern as it was too painful for me to take the pain of losing my parents at such a young age. So, I worked triple hard and made good friends with Mathi, Prem, Raghu, and Latha. Their friendship was very important to me and I had to pass all the exams to be with them and they too helped me a lot in my studies.

Finally, I completed my undergraduate degree and commenced my service in the government hospital. Here, ill patients intrigued me to improve my knowledge and skills. At the same time, I thought of challenging myself by sitting for a foreign postgraduate degree rather than a local one. It was a Herculean task to get through the foreign postgraduate exam as there were so many hurdles lined up against me. Thankfully, I achieved the qualification I dreamt of and I can do the job I am passionate about with all the compassion in my heart. With my years of experience, I can share my knowledge and skills to my younger colleagues.

Now, looking back at my tumultuous life journey, I would like to thank all those who woke the inner genius within me and I am proud to say that all of them have played a pivotal role for who I am today