Statement of Purpose

Having a notorious record at badgering my Biology teachers in school with questions like why ‘our old oak tree’ had to fall prey to a dreadful parasite called loranthus;why the local fish market had shut down mysteriously in 1993 owing to some ungraspable phenomenon termed “eutrophication” saw to it that I was offered, with all dignity, a permanent membership to the highly esteemed Naturalists’ Society at a tender age of thirteen to “quell the curiosity of this pesky questioner (as my worthy seniors had put it).” This initial curiosity and active participation not only helped me to instill a great liking for Biology but also offered other opportunities to work on important projects like Integrated Farming, art of Bonsai cultivation and a curtailed study about AIDS, a global threat.
My weekly visits to the Sitagarah AIDS Hospital only brought me closer to realize how I yearned to be a part of this beautiful world of Medicine. Here I got to know how people suffering from AIDS were tackled; how the precautionary measures were maintained and also shared experiences with the patients who despite knowing that they had no future lived every moment to its fullest. However with the kind of ostracism they received from society, only deepened the aloofness between them and the outside world, with little expectations. It was here where I felt a strong need to address this issue to all around me as a doctor.
Accompanying my father to the monthly Psychiatric Meet with my own initiative, I noted the tremendously rising number of cases suffering from depression, insecurities and high tension levels-all leading to mental instability. Surprisingly, I also got to see how people still harboured this convention that visiting a psychiatrist was a weakness-a kind of embarrassment. Here I felt the need of an understanding doctor who needs to help people come out of their shells to share their problems and make them confide in him. I was determined more than ever to fill in this place.
Helping my father to organize events, keep a check on the intra-venous fluids given to patients at the ‘Durga Mandap’, a charitable home (where doctors serve voluntarily every Sunday), stands an unparalleled experience and an inspiration to work willingly for a larger cause.
Over the years I have seen a deadly wedge creeping in between patients and their doctors, destroying the sanctity of their time- honoured relationship, and placing each at the mercy of powerful interests whose only real concerns are costs, profit and power.
I guess one has to be in the system to change the system, all for the better and I guess I need a chance to be a part of the system as well.
Before I set out into this world, I owe much to my school Sherwood College for instilling in me all the basic ingredients required for the making of a good human being that will be my greatest weapons in striving to be a good doctor-be it compassion, advocacy, interpersonal skills, leadership or genuine willingness to serve a place unconditionally.
I am yet to become a part of this noble profession and have much to learn but I already have a dream, a vision for something that’s still to be a part of me. My dream and sole ambition in life is to become a fine, qualified doctor who understands the need for the improvement of basic health-care facilities imparted to all sections of society. And I know for sure that nothing is as real as a dream-because the dream is within you which nobody can take away.