AMCOSA souvenir 2015 - My paavala- paraka advice to AMC, AMCOSA & AMCIANs

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.

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(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).