1974- it rings a bell!
It was monsoon season. It had rained the day before. The potholes on the roads were still filled with rainwater. The dark clouds were playing “hide and seek” with the sun.
It was an exciting time for the newly selected class joining the Prestigious Glancy Medical College.
But the excitement did not last long for most.
Classes had started and guess what, a new problem that none of us had imagined in our lives until that time had taken shape.
And that is called “ragging”.
Right after finishing the morning lectures, four of us (Harmandar Sodhi, Late Vipan Kohli, Vishawkirti Sharma and myself) tried to leave the Anatomy lecture theater via the Majitha Road entrance/exit but were escorted to a private rental space on that street by two of our respected seniors Avinash C. Sharma and Avninder S. Thind.
For the first time in our lives, we were introduced to a “Medical Chair”!
For those of us wondering as to what the chair looks like, it was a human femur and the seat was the femoral head! (Some details have been omitted to keep this blog piece civilized).
It sure wasn’t very enjoyable to occupy the chair- but each one of us did!
This experience unleashed in our minds a new fear as to what was still to come.
(Late) Harbaksh-my buddy from DAV Jalandhar- and I decided not to stay in our hostel rooms for the first couple of months to let the ragging period pass.
Both of us would board a train from Jalandhar daily at 4 am and then ride Harbaksh’s bike (parked at Amritsar Railway station) to Ram Bagh and stay there until Anatomy lecture time ( guess about 7 am).
Out of the names mentioned above, Harmandar Sodhi is the only one in our group to appreciate and discuss this shared experience and we still laugh about it!
Unfortunately, Vipan Kohli (my next door Jalandhar neighbour) and Harbaksh have passed away and where abouts of Vishawkirti Sharma (who was a year senior to me in high school) are currently unknown.
Yes, it sure did leave an indelible imprint on our minds!
But then, the darkest clouds have a silver lining too!
The good that came out of it was the special bond that Sodhi and I still share!
Baldev
