A Student's Burden

I am a student of class eleven and I have many challenges ahead of me at this stage of my life. I need to crack the competitive entrance exams to get admission into medical or engineering college. I have both options open for engineering and medical as I have both biology and mathematics as my subject. 

It's a big prestige issue for both my parents and me. Because if I'm successful my parent's position in the society would greatly rise as a proud parent to an engineering or medical student. For me it would be the steppingstone to a world of high income and huge opportunities.

Due to the time consumed by my educational engagement, I had little time to pursue my other interests and hobbies. I had taken lessons in music in my lower classes, and I could sing fairly well. Then after taking part in a realty show I had found some success as a stage performer. I began to get invitation to perform at various shows and began to earn for the first time. This period of my life I was truly enjoying. But it was very short. After I came to class eleven, I was forced to stop all musical programs.

This was a big burden for me. My friends in my neighbourhood stood by with me to cheer me up and lessen my burden. It was difficult for me to stay away from music.

Music always cheered me up and I felt buoyant after a performance.

My fan following helped me to temporarily forget my distance from music. Bearing burden after burden was becoming a part of my life. In my childhood the burden was carrying the heavy bag on my back laden with countless books. That was physical burden. Now it was slowly converting into mental burden. 

I was a fairly meritorious student, and my teachers were my biggest guide. My classmates were also very helpful. With their support I smoothly sailed through my class twelve exams and cleared the medical entrance test with distinction. 

My friends used to sit for teatime get together or 'adda' at the local tea shop. Many elders also gathered there. We all joined in the conversation going on and there was no stranger and no outsider. The discussion covered a wide range of subjects from cinema to politics and current social affairs. 

At such a gathering we used to get parental type guidance too. I was advised to opt out of engineering college where also I had scored well to get admission in a good institution. 'The country is in dire need of good doctors, so Sanjay you should think of your fellow countrymen and study medicine,' said retired professor Ashok. He too was a regular at the tea stall and took part animatedly in all the discussions specially sports. 

For the next four years and a half I studied medicine. After completing my internship at the end of the course at the same college hospital I did a two-year specialisation in surgery.

In seven years' time I became a surgeon and became an active part of a hospital operation theatre. Alongside the surgeries, I resumed my participation in musical fests and stage shows.

I became quite popular very soon once again. Music made me more or surgery I could not tell. People who needed financial support loved me because I used to charge them very less in respect of surgeries.

My music shows brought me more money than I imagined as my shows went full houses.

But after some years there came an inflexion point. My busy schedule at the hospital with back-to-back surgeries took away my time from musical programmes. I had to take a decision very soon. That I should keep my profession as a surgeon or a musician. 

This was the biggest challenge of my life. The biggest dilemma or burden. My Himalayan burden to decide my profession. To be or not to be a surgeon or a musician. It was more like a 'Hobson' s choice as they say in legal parlance.