The Treadmill terrible Rajesh was my classmate from high school. He had two passions- travelling and vehicles. He gazed at cars and sleek bicycles. He trekked to the local parks and boarded buses to attend science exhibitions in schools miles way, and I always declined his invitations. He had two pet grouses, a principal source of dissatisfaction in his life- too many responsibilities and too little money. He was being brought up by a single mother and had a baby sister. He was the complaining sort. When his mother gave him a second hand bicycle, he was thrilled for a day. Then he told me bitterly that due to his mother’s financial constraints he had to put up with an old bicycle, which in his opinion, belonged to the pre-independence era. He could tell by the faded sticker on the back, which faintly resembled the British flag. “Even Sunil, the carpenter’s son, has a brand new BSA SLR.” Rajesh was good at studies. He took his responsibilities very seriously. And he worked very hard. He was my batch mate during MBBS. State funded scholarship made him exempt from tuition fee. His boarding was free in the college hostel. I congratulated him on this fact. Most of his problems seemed to be getting over. “What about my clothes? Do you know how ridiculously expensive the books are in Medicine? I have to have a bike now. I don’t know how I will pull on for five years” He retorted. When he passed commendably after five years, he was a very bitter man. He had to start work immediately. His pay was very good, but all his contemporaries were trying to join specialist residencies. He was expected to support his sister’s education, and see that she was married off decently. “What an unfair world!” He lamented. Twenty years after our date of joining Medical School, we had a reunion. Rajesh had a successful practice, and was quite rich. He also had an MD in general medicine to his credit. He had travelled to all the important places in India. He came in a year-old Honda city. And he had a worried look. “My son says he wants to join Medicine. It will cost crores! I wanted to go to a European tour last year, but couldn’t due to money constraints. I wonder when my money problems will be over” He told me in all seriousness that the BMW he had already ordered will have to be on a bank loan as he was very short of money. He was thinking of going to UAE to earn some more. “I really don’t want to leave, but what choice do I have?” He looked totally helpless. And unhappy. healthylifehappylife.in/
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:34:38 +0000
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