It was not until teacher talked about it did he think about this issue. More than the matter it was the teacher’s tone that made him worrisome. It was like - two plus two is four and you will be a doctor. It was as simple and straightforward to her, but, not for him. He was a regular guy who never thought about all this before. He was happy the way he was and that’s it. To think of becoming a Doctor was something beyond his present level, but not completely impossible. After all his father and grandfather were doctors. His grandfather was the first trained Doctor of his town. Everyone seemed to know his grandfather. He had heard them say that his grandpa had left the Army to come back to his town. Over the years he had managed to know so much about his grandpa that he had no doubts that his grandpa was a good man. His father was also a Doctor. His grandma used to tell him that his papa always wanted to be a doctor. She used to tell him the stories of his father when he was a small boy. So he knew that his father studied medicine, came back and continued the job which his grandpa started. His father had turned a small clinic into a sprawling nursing home. He used to go there with his mother once a while. Though he used to hate the smell, he liked the way nurses and other Doctors treated him there. He felt like a king and so he went there whenever he could. It was one such day he saw his teacher in nursing home. He was curiously looking at needle box and suddenly his teacher arrived from nowhere. He was caught unaware and just managed to mumble “Hello Madam”. His teacher seemed too happy to catch him in action. She told the sister who arrived just then “See here sister, he is already preparing to become doctor. Like father, like son” It took him a while to recall that he was just peeping into an empty syringe box before a few seconds. He did not, even for a moment, realize that this small step by him could make him eligible to be a Doctor. Along with the teacher, the sister who used to usually ordered him not go there and here, smiled and added “After all, he is our future boss. His father has built such a big nursing home for him. He will not forget this old sister who looked after him, right baba?” He nodded his head. What else could he do in that situation? It was so funny to think that he will the boss of this stout sister. She terrified him a lot. She was the one who prevented him from having all the fun in the nursing home. She would shout when he went out to play in the lawn, she would stop him from opening the box which contained white bandage. It should be fun to be a Doctor – he thought. It was not a bad idea to become a Doctor and stop this sister from doing all things which she was doing now. But what else can one do after becoming Doctor? He had very little idea. His father was a Doctor but he had hardly seen his father in action. But first it was important to know whether his friends wanted to become Doctors. After all he and his friends did everything together. So if his friends did not become Doctors, there was little point in him becoming one. He began asking his friends, one after other, about what they wanted to become. Everyone had already thought about this before. They all gave him their firm opinions. It was as if he was the only guy who did not decide on his future. There was no need for it also. Everyone had already concluded that he will be a doctor. Why? Because your father is a Doctor- everyone said. Among his friends were people whose fathers were shopkeepers, bank employees, planters and all that. And they did not want to continue their father’s job. They all wanted to be Engineers, Pilots. Lawyers and some even wanted to become Doctors. Only he seemed not to have any say over his own future. But he was happy that some his friends decided to become Doctors. At least they would spend some happy time in nursing home together. But that will happen only after he became a Doctor. Suddenly he felt he did not want to become one. And he told the same to his mother. She just smiled at him. Why? What else do you want to become? He did not have any answer. He simply did not think about it. But he was sure that he does not want to become Doctor. His mother explained that it was his responsibility to carry forward the lineage. See your father; he made your grandpa so proud. You should do the same – she told him. He knew his grandpa was a great man. When he died lot of people had come to their house. He knew that the main road of the town was named after his grandpa. He used to feel so proud when he walked through that road which had his grandpa’s name. His grandpa always stayed at home. He had never seen his grandpa going to clinic like his father did. He could hardly say that his grandpa was a Doctor because he had never seen him in white coat like his dad and he never carried the stethoscope. But he had to believe when he saw the photos of his grandpa in the book released after his death by his father. Though he never knew correctly, he thought becoming Doctor should not be a bad idea. After all, the Principal of his school used to come every year to his house to meet his father and collect the donation cheque. He used to feel that his father was more powerful than his Principal. He too wanted to be that powerful and becoming Doctor seemed only way for it. He thought it is high time he decided what he wanted to become. He sat in his study and began the process. In a sheet of paper he began writing the jobs which he liked doing most. By writing all things he thought he would get a proper idea of what he wanted to do all his life. Filling the list was not as easy as he had initially thought. He wanted to do so many things. He liked the way rotis were tossed by that skinny man in the restaurant. So he wanted to start one so that he could toss it all the time. He loved his cartoon books and had envied his friend who owned the book shop. To open a book shop is not a bad idea, he told himself. The list kept growing long. Because he loved playing with coffee beans, we wanted to own an estate just like his friend. He wanted to be a driver as he could drive the car wherever he wanted. He wanted to play hockey and also wanted to own a huge playground where he and his friends would play hockey without being disturbed by the stupid high school boys. After writing all the choices he wrote DOCTOR boldly at the end. Now that he had written all the choices he had to pick one. Instead of selecting the best one, he thought it would be better to start eliminating the bad choice. So finally he would end up with one thing which he will surely become. So he began the process of elimination. He thought he could drive even after being a Doctor. His father used to drive whenever they went for holidays. So becoming a driver was nothing great. Therefore he eliminated that from his list. He knew he father played tennis everyday. So becoming doctor could not prevent him from playing hockey. Hockey player eliminated. Soon he discovered that everything could be done even after becoming Doctor. He decided that he will become a Doctor. He ran to his mother to tell her about his decision. He saw his father having food on dining table. His mother was also sitting beside him. “I want to become Doctor” he told rather loudly. His father just lifted his face, gave a blank look at his mother and said “Of course! What else can you become?” He felt very disappointed. All his efforts to take decision just seemed to be waste. It was as if he was trying to prove the obvious. No one seemed to recognize that he had taken this decision after much thinking. But now that he had decided to become Doctor he had to. So he asked his father “How can I become a Doctor?” |
