Life at Lakshmi Narayan Medical College was very different for Ria. Unlike before she never had to live in a hostel before and she never had to eat a soft diet for such a long time. She felt like her taste buds have already died. The campus wasn't as clean as compared to her schools in America either and she was occasionally greeted by rats in her hostel room or washroom.
The anatomy dissection which she was supposed to do for the hand did not go well at all. Despite precaution from her, she ended up cutting many nerves by mistake. Professor Vijaykanth scolded Ria and her partner for their mistakes.
"How will you do any surgery? You cannot cut nerves and tendons. It is good that this is a dead body and such a mistake while dissection is fine now but you both will do it tomorrow as well on the upper limb. I will make you both do it again until you are perfect." said Doctor Vijaykanth.
Nazia on the other hand did her work pe
Finally, it was the day where the students were supposed to elect two persons, one boy and one girl as class representatives. From taking attendance to sorting out conflicts between their batch and the other batches, class representatives were supposed to play an important role for their batch. The representatives are also supposed to be involved in organizing the cultural events of the batch like fresher's day or college festivals. They even have to show their anchor skills on the stage. Not only this, post their internship they all would be guided by them for the permanent license from the state council to practice. Important notices about holidays or any notes or important points sent by a teacher for their subjects will be sent out to the students by these representatives. Any student having any kind of trouble whether in ragging or being harassed by a professor can talk to the representatives of their batch, who in turn can take the
Ria and Nancy returned exactly an hour later with a huge smile on their face. It wasn't a happy smile but Nazia felt that they had done something which was not good. She wanted to win the elections but not by using the wrong path and she wondered what her friends were up to. She knew that Ria and Nancy were very bold but their boldness often got them in trouble. Ria did not believe in compromising any situation. She would often go too far to show someone that they were wrong. Although she did not like it yet she could never stop her from it."What is with that smile on your face?" asked Nazia, concerned."Yes, that smile looks creepy," said Anusha."Oh, girls! Please relax and enjoy the show," said Nancy, as she and Ria sat down on their bench."Nancy, if you did something wrong then be ready to get scolded at home. I will call your mother and tell you everything," said Anusha."Anusha dear, there is no foul play here. Just a reaction to an action
After Nazia's speech, two more students gave their speeches. One of them was from Ria's stretcher. He was very tall and had curly hair that almost covered his eyes. His name was Sai Kumar. Ria wondered how could see anything with that hair over his eyes. The other boy was neither tall nor short. He wore simple shoes and clothes. Ria almost felt that she had never seen him before. His name was Abhijeet Sehgal. Doctor Shruti left the room saying that she would come back again."I am going to vote for Nazia but I am confused about the guys," said Ria."I am going to vote for Sai. He sounds very serious about his work," said Anusha."Yes, so serious that his eyes got covered with his hair," said Ria.Anusha scowled at Ria but Ria continued to smile. Anusha rolled her eyes at Ria's attitude."He looks as though someone broke his heart and he is still suffering from that pain. He decided to grow more hair in the front so that he would not see any g
Ria played the video that she had recorded earlier when she went downstairs. The video showed Vinodna's friends talking about Manisha removing a few of Nazia's votes to make Vinodna win. This shocked everyone in the classroom. Nazia looked furiously at Manisha, who kept sneezing again and again because of her allergy."Manisha, how could you even think of abusing your position to make someone win?" asked Doctor Shruti loudly, after watching the video completely."Aahchoo!" said Manisha."Shruti Mam, I am sorry," said Vinodna.She kept her head down and Ria could see that she was completely embarrassed now. Ria did not feel any sympathy for her. Instead, it made her angrier. She had tried to win unfairly.
The argument Ria and Anusha had did not continue the next half of the day but neither of them spoke to each other. Ria did not care much about it. She had never extended her hand for friendship towards her. She only sat along with her because of Nancy. Anusha was Nancy's cousin and they frequently sat in Anusha's car to reach the college. Personally, Ria hoped that Nancy would shift to the hostel but unfortunately no room was available for her to stay.After the election fiasco, all the first-year students were asked to take a lunch break before their laboratories. Ria and her friends went to the college canteen for their lunch. Ria as usual had to buy curd again to eat with the rice. Nancy and Nazia took a chicken sandwich. Nancy ate as though she never had anything that delicious in her life."Umm..so yummy!"
Ria never knew that someday she would have to experiment on her own blood in a college. Her parents had never told that to her anytime and she felt that she wasn't ready for it. The professor in front was strangely looking at her again and again. This made Ria fear that she might observe her while she would be doing the same experiment later. It made her so nervous that suddenly her hands and feet went sweaty. Back in school, Ria and her friends had made a plan for the dissection of the cockroach. Only Leela was not afraid of cockroaches while the others could not even touch them before dissection. Their parents were tiger parents, very determined for them to do and therefore they could not opt-out of the dissection class. So Ria and her friends decided to use Leela's cockroach for the dissection.The idea was to pretend as though you were working on it. Once Leela finished, she wo
Life at Lakshmi Narayan Medical College suddenly changed after Ria attended her physiology laboratory. They now started having the classes for all the subjects after dissection in the morning and laboratories in the afternoon. The dissection began at nine am sharp and those who were even five minutes late were made to stand outside.Three hours later they had their anatomy and embryology class with Dr Hari Prasad but Ria had decided to skip it and sit in the library studying. Anatomy class would be followed by biochemistry. After the break, they would have physiology and finally laboratory.Nazia did not like Ria skipping the class and refused to give a proxy for her attendance. She was announced as a class representative and she was supposed to take attendance for dissection and the class after it. Ria began to give various excuses eve
Dinesh agreed to show Ria how to wear the Nauvari sari. It had a typical Maharashtrian saree draping which Ria's mother often wore in Indian weddings. Ria decided to contest for fresher's day. This wanted to show Manisha that she isn't afraid of anything and no one can challenge her. This was going to be a tough task for Ria because she had never done it before. The sari that she borrowed from Nazia was torn while she tried to walk in it but this time she was determined to do her best. Luckily, their fresher's day was postponed to the next week and this gave Ria some more time to practice. Since Dinesh did not stay in the hostel, he could bring a sari for her. Ria was very careful while selecting the sari because she didn't want to look like a clown. Of all the photos Dinesh showed her which he saw online, Ria selected a red silk sari with a green blouse. Dinesh agreed to meet her
Do people face unfortunate events regularly in life? Of course, everyone does occasionally. In Ria's case, that unfortunate event came in form of a fracture of her cousin on whom she pranked. She wore makeup and a costume to look like a ghost. Her cousin slipped on the stairs while running and ended up with a fracture. Luckily it wasn't his head that got affected but since he fell more than three flights of stairs, he ended up with a fracture in his right elbow. This unfortunate event changed Ria's life suddenly. Her parents were so upset by this that they decided to send her to India for her bachelor's in medicine and surgery. A couple of other events troubled Ria's stay in India but none were unfortunate because she managed to shine in those events among her peers. She thought she could manage her walk wearing a sari on the stage in front of her batchmate
Ria and her friends quickly rushed out of their hostel. The auditorium was in the building next to the second year building. The ground floor had two huge rooms opposite each other. This was where the third and final year MBBS students had their classes. The auditorium was upstairs. It was very huge with several ceiling fans. The auditorium also had a very huge platform. Several girls who wore sarees stood in a corner near the stairs of the platform in a queue. Ria rushed forward and stood last in the line. Her palms and soles began to sweat due to nervousness but she was relieved at the fact that the contest hadn't started. Clenching her lips, she turned her neck and looked for her friends. They were in the second row on the left side of the hall. A cooler was right next to them. Nancy and Nazia both gave her a thumbs-up as they sat down on a white plastic chair.
What is a beauty pageant? Is it just a public entertainment where judges select a girl whom they find to be the most beautiful? Or is it a contest beyond physical appeal? Pageants were platforms for showcasing women's empowerment, diversity, intelligence and leadership.Women who take part in pageants have utilized the platform to empower other women, others have also used pageants as a way to advance their careers. Although this was the meaning of a beauty pageant, it also somehow became a medium for fame for several young ladies but Miss Fresher was nothing at all compared to this.Ria realized that neither it gave any fame nor it would help her in her career. It looked like a contest meant only for popularity. Perhaps this was the reason why many of her batchmates weren't interested in participating. It would only boost her image among the students b
Ria thought all the students would be excited for fresher's day but she was wrong. Her classmates did not show much excitement. Apart from the girls who stayed at the hostel and the students who participated no one was excited. This shocked Ria. Back in America, at her school, the situation was quite different. Any competition would be something everyone would talk about and watch. Whether it was sports, singing, dancing, debate or quiz, many participated as per their interest and many would be excited about it. The hype for fresher's day here was not even remotely similar to that.The girls from the hostel who were rude to Ria now became quiet. Their acne was still visible. Few of them were so embarrassed about it that they sat at the back almost away from many. They only stood up for their attendance covering their faces with a cloth. Ria did feel sorry for them until she rememb
Finally tomorrow, the first-year students would have their fresher's day which was being organized by the second year students of their medical college. Many girls were already excited to see how the event would go but unfortunately, the girls who stayed at the hostel had a different story. Most of the girls from the hostel participated in the event and just a day before the event many of them had severe acne on their faces. They suspected that someone mixed something in the water of the washrooms. The hostel's warden asked the affected girls to freshen themselves and visit the dermatology department of the hospital. She also assured everyone that everything will be fine by evening but until then all students in the hostel will have to use water from the washrooms of the college. This almost made Ria throw up. The unfortunate moments she had with a rat appeared in her mind. Nazia too wasn't happy with this news because she disliked the
There was never a time in Ria's life when she thought someday she would wear a sari. She happily paraded showing off her Indo western clothes at weddings and festivals. Her mother made sure that she wore something that didn't offend anyone yet somehow her typical Indian aunties always found a way to complain something about her. Often they complained about her attitude and called it ego issues because she didn't talk much to them. At times they openly made fun of the way she stood and the way she sat.Ria remembered how her relatives made fun of her in one of the Indian weddings. She wore a very beautiful long skirt which had embroidery on a matching blouse. It was called ghagra choli. Though Ria wore a similar dress for various weddings, this time the blouse was heavy. Her relatives who saw her at the wedding did not appreciate her dress. Instead, they made fun of the way s
Finally, Sunday came, which meant that Ria could spend some hours away from her books to practice how to wear and walk in Sari. Dinesh would bring the sari for her and she would have to try it. He would show her how to wear the Nauvari style of sari. Nazia also agreed to come along to help her. Ria felt nervous because if she messed up something today, she would look like an idiot in front of Dinesh. This was a very important day for her because she wanted to show Manisha that she is up for any challenge and there was nothing Ria couldn't do.However, by Sunday, many first-year girls suddenly became hostile to them. Many of them were very rude and few even dared to ask her if she could walk in a sari."Don't worry about that. This would probably last until the competition. Many girls from hostel are participating for fresher's day and they think you already have an edge." said Nazia as she and Ria sat on in the corner of their hostel canteen."I don't get you,"
Nazia's continuous rude behaviour with Dinesh made him so upset that he began to make more demands. Ria is now supposed to do the physiology homework's that Professor Shruti assigned them. Ria tried to hide everything from her roommate Nazia's vulture eyes but she was exposed. Nazia, who was the female class representative, was given the task to collect homework. She immediately recognized Ria's handwriting, though Dinesh submitted the papers along with his friend. Her vulture eyes looked at Dinesh furiously and before she could say anything further, he pelted across the benches quickly."Ria, he is crossing his limit. Just stop asking him for help.""Nazia, we are only helping each other now. Once the fresher's day is over, I won't need to do anything.""Please just think once again."
Dinesh agreed to show Ria how to wear the Nauvari sari. It had a typical Maharashtrian saree draping which Ria's mother often wore in Indian weddings. Ria decided to contest for fresher's day. This wanted to show Manisha that she isn't afraid of anything and no one can challenge her. This was going to be a tough task for Ria because she had never done it before. The sari that she borrowed from Nazia was torn while she tried to walk in it but this time she was determined to do her best. Luckily, their fresher's day was postponed to the next week and this gave Ria some more time to practice. Since Dinesh did not stay in the hostel, he could bring a sari for her. Ria was very careful while selecting the sari because she didn't want to look like a clown. Of all the photos Dinesh showed her which he saw online, Ria selected a red silk sari with a green blouse. Dinesh agreed to meet her