Went to join College, got admitted into Hospital!

In those days there were just 3 Engineering colleges in Telangana with 400 seats. I could not get admission either at Hyderabad or Warangal. I applied in a number of Engineering colleges in other States. I first got admission at Annamalai University - Engineering College, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu.  Then I started getting admission letters from few other colleges but Annamalai University College was chosen and I joined there. After being there for few days, I left the college because of ragging and as lecturers were mostly teaching in Tamil. I gave excuses and collected my certificates and returned home. Subsequently when my father took up the matter with the Dean of the college, he assured to address my problems and appoint one senior professor as my guardian at Chidambaram. But I refused to go.

Offers of admission from other colleges kept coming, including BITS, Pilani. My parents were worried about me as I could not settle down at a good college in a South Indian place, they were in a dilemma. Then they decided to send me to Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, where my brother was already studying B.D.S., at Kasturba Medical College. That way I and my brother would be together for three years and I will have to continue another two years on my own. The Medical College and the Engineering College are almost side by side and the hostels are also not far off, this gave them the confidence that I will be happy with my brother and that this is the best place for me.

I started for Manipal along with my father and brother. We started from Hyderabad by an APSRTC bus to Bangalore. On the way, after having dinner at Kurnool and while approaching Anantapur I developed stomach pain. As it was mild I did not tell about it to my father or brother. We got down at Bangalore early in the morning and as I was guarding our luggage, father and brother went to get tickets for our onward bus journey to Mangalore. I was not able to stand straight because of the pain. However if I lean forward a little; there was relief. When my father and brother were returning with the tickets they noticed my condition and I told them of the problem. They asked me whether I would be able to travel another 320 Kms. up to Mangalore where we can see a doctor. I assured them that I would be OK. En-route I was not able to have much for breakfast or lunch. And in the bus I was made to lie down on two seats and rest. We reached Mangalore in the evening and immediately took a taxi to Udipi which is 53 Kms. away, where my brother knew a good doctor. We checked into a hotel at Udipi. My brother brought Dr. Ullal to the room, he examined me and said that the problem could be Appendicitis but he would be able to confirm it only the next day and put me on medication. Brother went to Manipal which is 6 Kms. from Udipi, checked into his hostel and later returned to our hotel with his friends. The next day evening Dr. Ullal confirmed that it is Appendicitis and referred me to Kasturba Medical College Hospital at Manipal for surgery. Father, I and brother along with his friends reached KMC Hospital by 6:30pm. This is how I got admitted into a Hospital at Manipal instead of College.

After re-examination and preparation I was taken into the Operation theater at 9:00pm. After the operation when I woke up from the affect of anesthesia the pain was gone. On the eighth day when the doctor opened the dressing he found the surgical wound unhealed. So they waited for few days and then opened alternate stitches to examine the wound. Two days later some complications developed and then all the stitches were removed and the opening was squeezed to let out the fluid that had accumulated there. After waiting for a couple of days for the partially open wound to dry up, superficial stitches were put. I was discharged from the hospital asking me to come again after a week for the stitches to be removed.

I was in the hospital for 26 days, mostly lying on bed with meager diet and sponge baths. I was weighing 65 Kgs. at the time of admission and 56 Kgs. at the time of discharge. I virtually learnt to walk again. I was not able to hold a glass of water without my hands trembling. Knowing of my condition in the hospital the Principal of my college, the hostel warden and few college students including some would be classmates visited me.

My father stayed with me until I joined college and I settled down at the hostel. The college authorities gave me a room on ground floor in VI Block and close to the Andhra Non-veg. mess. I had to put in a lot of hard work to cope up with the classes I had missed due to hospitalization.