Those enchanted four and half years

Chapter 28

Days came and went by. All we did this year was study. Final year was really very tough. It was too much of syllabus with too little time to cover it. Whenever I would be reading Medicine, half of my brain would concentrate on it, while the remaining half would keep reminding me what I had not yet read in Surgery, in Peads, in Ortho, in Gynae. Days and nights were packed with tension. College too constantly bombarded us with tutorials, surprise tests, periodicals, ward exams...constantly pointing to show us where we were.

But before we started studying for the finals, my batch-mates decided to take a 'common-off' for a week so that everyone could go home and come back before starting to study seriously. 'Common-off' because no department would have allowed us to take a week off. We wanted that home-sick hostelites should visit their homes considering the load of 'yet- to-be- taught' syllabus.

So for one week starting from Monday, we began our mass bunk. I too decided to take a small break from studies. I liked the time I got to loll around at home doing nothing, just reading novels, watching TV, eating and sleeping, and in the evening, chatting with Sufee for an hour on the phone (even though she lived just one block behind my house!). One evening, as Sufee called me, I could feel the terror in her voice, as she uttered a trembling 'hello'. "What happened Sufee?" I asked. "Rasika, our junior, called me today..," Sufee said. "What did she say?" I asked. "She told me our terminal exam time-table has been displayed." Okay fine, what are you so scared of?" "Exam starts Monday," she stressed each word. "Which Monday?" "This Monday!" "What? But today is Friday eve!" I was stunned. How is it possible? How could we study what had been taught to us in one whole year, in just two days? This exam was important because these marks would be included in our final internal assessment, which was required for passing.

"What do we do now?" Sufee broke the silence.

"I don't know!" I said as I realized my voice was edgy too, and fingers trembling.

"There's only one thing we can do," Sufee said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"Inform everyone, ask them to come back STAT, study for two days non-stop... and give exam as it is!" Sufee said.

It was but obvious. There was no other way out. I and Sufee immediately got down to our work. We divided our batch-mates into two halves; I would have to call half of them, and Sufee, the other half. Of course we could further ask each one to inform at least five more. I sat down with the phone book in my hand, and began calling everyone, one by one. (We did not have the leisure of using mobile phones in those days. I got my first mobile while doing internship). My first call was to Arun. He knew it instantaneously as he heard my panicked voice that something was wrong.

"Hey Ruta, what happened? Are you alright?"

"No", I said, almost screaming. I told him about the exam.
"Don't worry, every thing will be fine," he said.

"Are you mad? Why are you consoling me? We are in the same boat. Go, study," I literally shouted.

As expected, everyone's reactions were those of surprise, horror, disbelief, fear or irritation. I heard 'Oh no!', 'Oh my God!', 'What!', 'Omigosh!', 'Shut-up!' and many such exclamatory remarks. For me and Sufee, at least travelling was not an issue as we were localites. Other batch-mates would have to make urgent reservations and travel back by whatever means of transport they could get. This problem was worst for North Indians, who had gone home as far as Jammu. They had no option but to travel by plane, whether or not they could afford it. This common-off proved too expensive for us, in all aspects!