Q&A

End of an era.......
Five years and I'm finally, officially a dentist. I  have absolutely no idea where and how the past five years flew by. I still remember my first day like it were yesterday. That bloke, Einstein sure knew what he was talking about when he suggested Relativity. The nervousness, I can still feel it when I think back. I've never been one to go up to strangers and get talking and make acquaintance. It takes me a long time to get comfortable with someone, even longer to actually be friends.
 So anyways, my point is I  don't really feel that it's been that long a time, though it's about half a decade. But when I see the amount of change in myself, five years become more or less believable.

             I have often wondered what the point of life is ( pretty deep, huh!.;)). If everyone has to die in the end, what does it matter how we have lived? Nobody is going to remember! A few brilliant people are probably remembered for many many years after they've gone but the rest just go away. That is why till sometime back, I wanted to do something 'worthwhile', something that people will remember me by, you know, something huge! I wanted to be remembered hundreds of years after I was gone. That had stressed me out for so long!

               But after a while, the daily humdrum pushed my 'deep' thinking to the back of my mind and I didn't give it much thought.....until now. And guess what! I no longer feel the same way and that took me by surprise because nothing 'significant' happened to make me change my belief. So that is where the growing up part comes in. In three of the past five years, we've worked on patients. More so in the last year. And though some of them were experiences I wouldn't want again, most have been really really satisfying.

               There is this patient of mine, a lady in her 5th decade, who stays about 4 hours away from the hospital, whose tooth I had extracted last October. She was very apprehensive but the procedure went smoothly and she was mighty relieved. Since then whenever she has come to the hospital for any procedure, she has always asked for me. She always gets me something she has cooked early in the morning and always meets me before going. She has told me so much about her family, personal things and always showers me with blessings. Then there is another patient, a girl about my age for whom I did a root canal on a front tooth. Her mother was worried sick because the girl is of marriageable age and the front tooth was a very visible hindrance in finding an alliance. The mother got so emotional and hugged me and took photos with me and invited me to her place.
These are just two of the innumerable instances where I managed to give so much happiness by just doing my job, where I didn't even go out of my way to help. The happiness you get is unimaginable. It surpasses any other joy. It's so much more than the happiness of topping an exam or your first salary or getting compliments or winning a coveted prize. Knowing that you eased someone's pain is such a high. And I think this is what changed everything. I realized that the effect I have on other people is so much more important to me than being remember for generations.
            All this might seem preachy but having experienced it, it's so true. Helping someone get over his fear in turn helps you get over yours. As the great Ralph Waldo Emerson said "It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life than no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."  The answers to your questions lie in answering others' questions. Dwelling on our own problems makes them seem so much bigger than they really are but there'll always be someone somewhere who is having it worse and still surviving.
I found the answer to my question. It's a blessing in disguise that I've been chosen for such a profession. It was by chance that I got into dentistry but now looking back at the past five years, I can only say that there are no coincidences, just miracles. :)