Page 25 - Till the Last Breath . . .

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Pihu Malhotra

Pihu looked at the tall stacks of books lined up in front of her. Her lips

curved into an embarrassed smile. She looked around and hoped nobody
had seen it. Examinations were around the corner and everyone was

stressed out and high on caffeine. Pihu was high on anticipation. She had
finished the course. Twice.

Pihu’s parents were ecstatic when she had cracked the All India Medical
Examinations and decided to go to Maulana Azad Medical College, one of
the best medical colleges in India. Pihu had smiled, shaken hands and

hugged. She knew it was just the beginning. School never offered her the
opportunity to bury herself in course books the way she had always wanted

to. The course was never a challenge. The entrance examinations were a
necessary evil. She knew she would sail through. When news broke out in
her hometown that her AIR (All India Rank) was third, cunning pot-bellied

owners of coaching institutes had flocked to her place, wanting her to
advertise their highly qualified staff and fully air-conditioned classrooms

with a picture of their most illustrious student—Pihu Malhotra. A few days
later, she was in the local newspapers. Her parents’ dreams were fulfilled.

Hers had just taken root.
These were the first set of exams in her college.

‘You don’t look tense?’ Venugopal asked as he underlined his book with
a fluorescent marker.
‘I am okay,’ she said, barely suppressing a chuckle.

She had the book Human Anatomy open in front of her. She had read it
twice. She itched to read something else. Her eyes had been on the book on

pathology lying on the side. A second-year student was sleeping on it. She