There is no place for Exoticans in the Oxford English Dictionary. The closest I could find was Exotica -“Objects considered interesting because they are out of the ordinary, especially because they originated in a distant foreign country”.
But this word is hardly used for people ( other than some tribes ). So why then did we, as a group, become exotic? What traits did we have that made us really interesting and out of the ordinary? What is that distinguishes ourselves from other groups or batches?
Maybe we were naive then and were looking for a fancy word to come up with? But the real question is did we and do we still live up to that word?
Perhaps we may be interesting to others now, for how fragmented we are. Like raindrops that divides into a million particles when it hits a surface, so did our paths. We were held together by a bond called MMC, only to be broken down by our own choices. We scattered like Brownian motion, if you will, to all corners of the world..
Maybe we should have taken an oath, like we took the Hippocratic oath, to stick to one another. Rather many of us have become hypocrites. An exotican only by name but not at heart. But that is the reality we had to come to terms with as soon as our term at college came to an end. That we were being sent out to conquer the world. Armed with our new knowledge , eager to save lives and establish a name for ourselves. We have forgotten that our strengths lay not just in knowing the physiology and anatomy of the human body and solving the myriad problems, but also in having great fortitude, empathy and being resourceful . These characteristics could just not have been inherited, but rather nurtured. Nurtured in a very challenging environment, by some invisible force.
So, why don’t we step back for a moment and acknowledge these invisible forces that shaped us, fortified us and prepared us for the unknown. Forces that continue to guide us and influence us. Without the friendships that were formed and the numerous bonds that were created, we would not be the individuals who we are today. We could not have survived the brutal environment and retained our sanity without the buffering of our friends. Those 5 and ½ years would lay the foundation for the rest of our lives and set a trajectory. Each of us were part of core group where we shared happiness and sorrow alike, trusted and respected each other, sometimes more than our family. For many of us it was these friends who inspired us, challenged and pushed us to our limits to pursue these dreams. Some would say you live too much in the past. Without reminiscing these relationships how can we move forward? To me, it seems friendships are the scaffold over which our personality has been built.
It makes sense to write about this as we prepare to reunite to celebrate 25 years of kinsmanship, most of us having settled down and busy with careers and family running behind someone, something, sometimes palpable, sometimes unsure of what it is we are seeking. Other than a calling for saving lives and making the world a better place what other tangible goals do we have in life. Some seek to be the best “ologist”. Some to be the best academician. Others to become affluent and retire early. But these alone cannot define who we are and who would be in another 40 years when we look back. How we have lived and who we associated with would matter most.
So we return full circle to “Exoticans”, to live up to what it was originally coined for. To be unique and show the rest of the world how we stay connected. Each individual a part of a big puzzle that makes sense only if put together. With the world being flat and social media abound it is easy to stay connected, if we can put our mind to it. For our part our small group tries to get-together once a year and for a week forget about our responsibilities, our baggage ( titles, worth, etc), and live life to the fullest. These occasions becoming etched into our memories and makes us look forward to the next one.
As physicians we treat patients with remedies…but friendships are the remedy we seek…….
“An Exotican”