The Hospital

Dr Vikram Malhotra

It was a very busy day at the hospital. The reception area had a long white table with separate counters and glass windows in front. The five counters had men and women in black formals busy with dealing with people one by one. The counters were surrounded by several people who did not bother to stand in a queue. A few distance away were rows of silver benches on which several sick patients sat. A tall girl with silky long black hair who wore a dark grey long shirt and white leggings fought her way among the people to reach one of the receptionists. A lady in a black suit over a knee-length black skirt sat at the reception.

"Please everyone one at a time only! Please stand in a queue." Said the lady at the reception.

"Excuse me, please tell me where the interviews for the medical doctors are being held?" Asked the girl with long black hair and silky hair.

"Mam, you can go straight and turn towards the right corridor. The third room from there is the place you need to sit." Replied the receptionist.

Thanking the receptionist the girl quickly rushed past many nurses and patients to reach the third room of the right corridor.  She opened the blue door and peeped inside first. Many people were sitting all across the room and to her surprise, there was another blue door inside to the left side. Many men and women were sitting holding their documents and certificates. She sat on a chair beside a girl with short black hair that barely reached her neck.

"Hi, are you also here for the duty medical officer interview?" She asked the girl.

The girl nervously smiled and nodded her head. She could see that girl was worried looking at how many people were attending the interview. There was a vacancy for only four doctors but at least twenty people were sitting all across the room. 

"Don't worry, whatever will happen, it will be for our best." She said to the girl.

"I hope so." Replied the girl slowly.

"My name is Ayesha. What is yours?"

"Sneha."

The blue door opened and a man with a grey shirt and trousers came out. He wore black glasses and he had a short pencil moustache above his upper lip. He spoke loudly as he looked at the paper.

"I am reading out the names of those whom the owner will interview now. The others whose names were not written are not selected for the interview round because their marks do not match the standard of the hospital."

Several people including Ayesha gasped. Lakshmi Narayan Hospital was one of the city's best hospitals; working here was like living in a dream for many. Everyone had come here with many hopes and out of them many would be rejected without even taking an interview.

"The selected doctors are Richa Khanna, Meena Kumar, Vishanth Reddy, Arun Dasari, Sneha Mittal, Prashanti Rao, Rizwan Syed, Samuel Charan, Ayesha Mansoor, and Shankar Goud."

"Oh thank goodness!" Said Ayesha before sighing in relief.

"Only ten were selected just for interview and I think the vacancy is only for three or four doctors." Said  Sneha, frowning.

"Why are you so upset? You should be happy that you are lucky." Said Ayesha, raising her eyebrows.

"I came from a very far area and I don't know how many came like me. Although I have no family, others whose families have big hopes will feel so sad."

"You have no family?" Asked Ayesha, with widened eyes.

Sneha nodded her head. It made no sense to her that they responded to the emails of many by calling them to the hospital and then rejecting them without even taking an interview. She felt that the owner needed to be taught a lesson about this. 

"Sneha, I am sorry to hear about that but you need to understand that big hospitals will want perfect doctors. It will affect their reputation if they hire someone incompetent or not good enough. India has many hospitals, they can find jobs anywhere but they can get to good places only if they are good enough. This is just a start and we all need to go through many struggles. We all have to study while working to get post post-graduation seat and even after that it will take many years to make our name." Explained Ayesha.

"Even then Ayesha, call them here from their home, and not even taking an interview is too much. I don't think any other hospital does this." Said Sneha, angry.

Many doctors were now leaving the room. She could see that many of them seemed very upset and some were almost reduced to tears.

"Those whose names were called please come in one by one-

"Wait!" said a loud voice.

An extremely handsome, tall man with chiseled cheekbones, black hair, and blue eyes walked across the room towards the door inside. Almost all the girls gaped as he walked past them. 

"Wow! Who is he?" Whispered Ayesha. 

Sneha could see her eyes shining with excitement. She couldn't understand why all the girls around her behaved like that. Many people in this world were good-looking and to see any one good looking on the street was not a huge surprise.

"Dr. Vikram, is it an emergency?" Asked the man in a grey shirt.

"I just have to ask him something." Replied the handsome man.

Suddenly the door opened loudly with a huge bang and a girl stepped inside. Her face was covered with sweat and she was panting. She looked at everyone with wide eyes.

"I am sorry! am I late?"

"Oh great! Well done doctor. A huge round of applause for your late appearance." Said Dr Vikram.

The girl looked down as the handsome doctor spoke. Sneha and Ayesha both looked at each other in shock. Probably no one had thought that this man would turn out to be so rude.

"What is your name doctor?" Asked Dr Vikram.

"Dr. R-ri-cha." Said the girl in a barely audible voice.

"Can anyone hear what she said? Say loudly!" Shouted Dr. Vikram.

Ayesha felt goosebumps all over her hand as Dr. Vikram spoke. She had not expected such a handsome man to be extremely strict.

"Dr. Richa, " the girl said finally.

"Shekhar, if her name is on the list please cancel it. Such people should never join our hospital. She is late for the interview itself, imagine if we hire her, how late she will come for duty." Said Dr Vikram, angrily.

Sneha's jaw dropped. She was shocked at the attitude shown by this doctor. He didn't look that old and he seemed very young yet he spoke as though he owned the hospital.

"I heard about Dr. Vikram Malhotra from one of my relatives who works here. He is one of the best surgeons in the hospital and he has also done many surgeries out of India as well. He has attended many medical conferences and published his work in many journals. He is also involved in many researches." Ayesha whispered to Sneha

"He is rude and snobbish." Said Sneha, raising her eyebrows.