JOIN USAnd why wouldn’t he be? Shrishaila, the son of a poor farmer, was just going to take his first step towards realising his, almost impossible, dream of becoming a doctor.
While the general notion is that medical education is reserved for the rich and for doctors’ kids, the seat selection process here on Thursday proved it wrong.
Among the students who were present, not only were some from very poor families, there were also those who were among the firsts in their families to have come this far. The success stories of these students and the power of humanity drew the attention of many at the counselling centre.
Shrishaila Kumbar’s father, Kallappa Kumbar, is a farmer who owns just three acres of land.
Apart from tilling his own land, Kallappa works in other fields to make ends meet. So when his son, Shrishaila secured 1,504th rank in CET and has a reservation under 2A category, poverty came as a hindrance between his son’s dream of becoming a doctor.
However, about 30 villagers came together and donated Rs 26,000 to the family. “I could not have arranged for that much money and had decided not to send my son for studying medicine. But the villagers extended their help and forced me to send my son to a medical college,” says Kallappa.
Kallappa has managed to arrange for another Rs 16,000. While this amount would be sufficient to pay the fees for first year MBBS, Shrishaila is worried about the money required for hostel and other facilities.
Shrishaila is a Kannada medium student, who scored 88.80 per cent in SSLC, and 85.33 per cent in PUC.
He received free coaching from S R Wali, while he was studying at BLE College in Jamkhandi. Once he selects an MBBS seat, he is hoping to get an education loan from the Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit Bank at Shurpali village.
Like Shrishaila, Mahantesh Parasappa Ganiger from Sunadoli in Gokak taluk is another poor but talented student who selected a seat at Bangalore Medical College (BMC).
He completed his PUC at JSS College, Dharwad and secured 74th rank in CET. Vidyaposhak has granted him a scholarship to study MBBS.
Mahantesh’s father passed away in 1999 and he was accompanied by his uncle Mahadevappa Ganiger at the counselling centre.