If only I had become a doctor

When young, I was fascinated by the aeroplane. Our house was not too far from the airport and some of our neighbors who stayed in our area worked in the airlines. I would see them go for duty in their company buses and longed to be like them. I did choose the aircraft industry but as luck would have it, I went into the aircraft-manufacturing stream. I was in my early 20s, got an appointment in Kanpur and from there moved to Nashik. I have been in Nashik for more than half a century and my son chose to join the IT industry. Today, I sigh and wonder if only I had become a doctor, my life might have been different. This is because today I realize that the medical profession is loaded with money. I hope my friends who are in this profession would agree with me.

Medical profession is a noble one because it is all about healing people and saving lives. Sanjay Dutt proved it in the 2003 Bollywood movie Munnabhai MBBS. It was a blockbuster and one cannot forget the message of Dr. Asthana (Boman Irani). It was that personal feelings should not influence the decisions of the Doctor. However, in the scenario of 2022, one observes that specialization has played havoc with this noble profession. I read somewhere that there are dentists who specialize in the upper set of teeth leaving the lower set for others. A time could come when there could be separate opticians for the right eye and the left or the right arm and the left or the right leg and the left. If only I had opted for this profession in my youth, today I might have been rolling in money. All I would require would be a degree, a suitable location to set up my clinic and contacts among other doctors. That way I could refer my patients to others more knowledgeable than me.