My
paavala – paraka advice to AMC & AMCOSA
Dr.Ravi
Venkatachelam (1979 batch)
ravichitrapu@rediffmail.com
Nearly 35 years of association with
this Alma Mater and more than 3 decades with AMCOSA (I vividly remember the
AMCOSA days /nights which were being celebrated in February every year and some
of us students would go there to see our professors and others sing and enact
skits and playlets. Having witnessed several happenings over the years and
having spoken to many friends, we often felt this should have happened like
this or that shouldn’t have happened and so on – so here I am, putting on
paper, my tuppence worth of advice to our college and association.
1. Let’s celebrate AMCOSA Day every year
Why
has AMCOSA stopped celebrating AMCOSA Day? AMCOSA should celebrate AMCOSA day
every year, like the yester-years. And a cultural program in the evening. Those
who can come /who are nearby would attend. February would be okay I guess.
AMCOSA
should be strengthened and for this there must be some form of interaction /
networking between all the members. For this, AMCOSA
can have a website / blog where it can record its
activities and a list of members, allowing them to write / give feedback. The
website can also have a record / photo-gallery of important events and their
contributions to the college / hospital – do you know AMCOSA donated an AC bus
to the college besides other things?
AMCOSA
can also plan some service activities to society – either to patients in the
hospital or to the general public. Maybe it can adopt a village.
2. Meeting with former students & ‘Giving back’
Many
alumni nowadays are celebrating re-unions and get-togethers. And they do come
to the college and move about reminiscing their college days. It would be nice
if some current students could meet them and host them, on behalf of the
college.
Batches
should also seriously consider ‘giving back’ to their Alma Mater – it could be
equipment, material, buildings, money, etc.
Suggestion
– Batches which are organizing their re-unions can inform the college and can
spend an hour or two in the Gallery / Auditorium of the college. Their
contemporaries, who are in the college, can interact with them. For this, the
college should have a Hospitality & AMCOSA Liaison
Committee
like other units, with a Vice President (Faculty) and student secretaries. They
can coordinate the college events of these re-unions and take them around.
3. Respect for our history & heritage
India
and Indians, unlike many European countries and their people, have little
respect or regard for heritage-preservation (or eco-conservation for that
matter). And Andhra Pradesh / Vizag/ AMC are no better.
Just
look at the way we are only too eager to destroy our stone buildings – the
skywalk near the KGH in-gate (it connected the erstwhile kitchen & the
surgical wards) and the ENT / Ophthamology block and the TBH / IDH buildings.
(of course, giving away the TBH/ IDH lands in the heart of the city was another
government move which didn’t go too well with the locals who however did not
protest strong enough then – we could have well used that land for expansion of
medical services or, why, even having a second medical college in the city).
A
move to demolish the skywalk connecting Ebden theater and Urology ward was
given up after opposition by the then Doctors’ Association.
And,
some years ago, the stone walls in the OP block were plastered and painted –
just imagine – stone walls plastered??!!
Many
western nations preserve most or all of heritage buildings and build their new
buildings above these by raising columns. It would add to the expenditure but
would preserve valuable heritage.
And
now there is a suggestion that we should break down the Pathology/ Microbiology
block & Gynaec block & Ortho block and build a new building.
The
itch to build new buildings obviously has many reasons but often these new buildings
are quite inferior in quality compared to the older buildings, for often, they
leak or develop cracks.
Secondly,
we have no organized method or practice in place to record / preserve our
history. We don’t preserve our documents (we had no documents to defend our
land in our dispute with the Isuka Konda Satyanarayana temple). We do not
preserve photographs or documents of our history.
Suggestion
– Just like the Canteen / Sports / Cultural sections, let us have a Heritage
& History unit for our college with a faculty
member as Vice President and two students as Secretaries. That unit can
document and preserve for posterity, our history and heritage.
We
should celebrate the foundation day of our college and its various departments,
and jubilee anniversaries.
We
should maintain a written and a web /net based record of major activities /
achievements like celebrations, inaugurations, etc.
We
should feel proud of our history and heritage.
4. We should decide what we want / what we do – not higher-ups
–
At
all levels of governance and administration in our country, the Centre decides
what should happen at the periphery – it may be Delhi deciding for a district, or
it may have been Hyderabad for the hills of Araku.
And
thus, we have seen higher-ups deciding how our
hospital /college buildings should be built or what courses we teach / whether
we should enhance our intake of students and so on. Seldom do they seek our
opinions, leave alone listening to it.
Just
look at the demolition of the erstwhile Ophthalmology / ENT block where there
was an initial plan to build a multistoreyed building with donations from local
industries. Money was collected but it took several years for the higher-ups to
give the green signal – because they had other plans!!! Why can’t WE have a say
on what and how we would like to build our buildings?
Similarly, it would be better if our own administrators / heads at different levels, were more democratic, and, discussed with all or at least
several members of our institution before taking major decisions like building
new buildings, renovating / demolishing buildings, altering existing services,
etc.
Suggestion
– All major decisions must be taken democratically
and
with the consensus of many, if not all, instead of administrators taking
individual decisions – at least for major works.
The
college can have a Landscape & Buildings unit
with
a Vice President (faculty) member) and two student secretaries.
5. Sorting out our boundary problems
Just
like India, we too have border problems. We have seen several illegal
encroachments onto our land and transgressions onto our territory – whether it
is at the Men’s Hostel or Women’s Hostel. This poses serious problems but often
we only take half-hearted and temporary measures. Unfortunately it is often
difficult to get support from the government / politicians in this regards. A
burning issue that continues to trouble us is the blatant occupation of our
roads / territory by the Satyanarayana Temple. Previous discussions and
complaints have proved futile. Should we, like India’s option of converting its
LOC to IB, take a similar view and concede away the area to the temple? We
should look at the whole issue in a newer perspective, do some brainstorming
and reach a practical, favorable and feasible solution that retains for us free
accessibility between the Anatomy / Physiology block and the rest of the
college/ hospital this side.
By
the way, did you know that we have a small building on the opposite side of the
road, across the bus stop near Anatomy block. We have to reclaim our rightful
territory and this needs all of us to
join forces.
6. Annual Academic Festival for the College
This
last suggestion of mine – it has always been a wish of mine – sadly still
unfulfilled. Our college / students have so many fests / days – Freshers Day,
College Week, Pulse, Sports week, Hostel Day, etc. But why don’t we have an
Academic Fest? Many colleges nowadays celebrate such programs.
Suggestion
– In end February / March, when there are no exams, we can have a week followed
by a day for Academics – including student presentations, quizzes, various
academic games, mini-workshops on ECG / acid base balance / minor procedures,
etc.
I
am sure many of you will have many more suggestions and much better and
feasible ones too. Please do speak out / write your suggestions in some
platform and ensure that they are implemented.
There is no need to maintain unnecessary tolerance or undue complacence
on such issues nor brushing it away that ‘it does not concern me’. We should
give voice or ink to our thoughts and opinions so that there is good debate and
discussion and truth wins so that things happen as they should. Best wishes to
AMC & its teaching hospitals and to all AMCians / AMCOSANs.
***********
(The
opinions expressed in this article are entirely the personal views of the
author and do not reflect, in any way, the views of the Editorial board or AMC or
AMCOSA).
