Winning the odds

“In the hope of securing a medical seat, I went to Kota after Standard XII to prepare for MBBS. However, I wasn’t able to get through the exam and pursuing a medical degree from a private college was not feasible for me either. So as per the conventional norms, I went on to pursue a Bachelor’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences from MIT, Pune. There is a general belief that anyone who pursues a degree in this subject is destined to become a pharmacist which I found quite frustrating because people thought I would be doing the same. To make it worse, I was the only person in my friend circle who had opted for this subject which made me feel isolated and lonely. At the same time, I didn’t see any other better alternative other than continuing with what I had started.

The journey wasn’t easy for me. I didn’t receive any fellowship because I was an out-of-state candidate and was therefore financially dependent on my family to pursue a PhD. In addition, I couldn’t garner enough support from my supervisor with respect to my project. I was often compared to other students; my supervisor openly expressed that she felt my project would amount to nothing. To navigate this difficult situation, I started interacting with dogs as an escape route. Everyday after the gym, I used to feed stray dogs near my house and thereby developed a strange, yet beautiful camaraderie with them.