A Gore Prescription

10389968_1091441760889439_3877505146720652261_n.jpg

A surgeon’s life is often described as Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Dr. Asit Gore gives us his prescription for a successful medical career. A strong dose of Jesuit education with an injection of values and principles that will stand the test of time.

Our surgeon wanted to start at the very beginning. St. Xavier’s High School, Fort was a very good place to start.

My first visit to school was in 1964 when I was taken for an interview for admission. I was a diminutive thin emaciated kid with oversized clothes and seemed like I was entering a huge monument and I barely could see the spire. I was interviewed by Fr. Vincent D’Silva (later learnt his nickname was Batku, as he was short). He showed me a tables book with various photos of birds and animals in four languages. I could not get the Marathi name for pigeon. He must have got a bakra (scapegoat) who knew four languages after a long time and was playing me; as he kept on asking the same question in all languages and I like a dumbo kept on answering the same question .

92c01320-759a-4d91-875d-d8f00501fa1b.jpg

My parents were enjoying, as they realized what was happening. Then Fr. D’Silva spoke in Marathi to tell me, “You are admitted” and then told me to translate it in English which I did slowly, "You are joining this school". 

Thus started my association with the best education institution in Bombay.  

11951117_1091441620889453_5884906947308533051_n.jpg

I was an average student and a meek and weak person. I was afraid to go to the secondary section of the playground as the seniors would hurt me. In the recess I would move to the main area. I would go to the other side once a week to the Visual Hall during VH period. I was not much of a sportsman so used to hang around in the primary area - 1B 2C 3C 4A.

Till the primary, Fr. Miranda was in charge and secondary Fr. Neville (DJANGO) and then Fr. Bulchand and Fr. Lancy Rodricks. Till I reached 5th standard, when you could wear long pants, I did not venture to the secondary side.

We used to play football with a rubber ball in the long recess. At the far end of the ground there was a tree whose fruit we used to collect apply spit and they used to burst like bombs. Opposite our school, there was this Cheap Jack store where you could get craft material and Manuel & Co. where we bought our books. I was a very quiet and hardworking student. I have been punished only twice. First, by Mr Chowdhary for screaming after noon prayers, as I sat on a compass a backbencher had placed on my seat. That slap across my face was very painful and I had swelling and redness for two days. The second time, Mr Mathias made me stand in a dust bin as Arvind Naik (God bless his soul) made a commotion, as his pen fell down while playing mischief in 8th B. That's when we got acquainted with Mahadeo the mali (gardener), Suresh the mehtar (janitor), Amarsingh the tall watchman and Lala the other watchman. Mahadeo became the man Friday of Fr. Bulchand.

When I cleared the 9th standard, I was not aware that for your academic life one has to start preparing from that early stage. At home I was told, to become a doctor, everything depended on my SSC and Inter Science marks (As I am from old batch). I was under the impression that you studied just before the exams. I always thought that my IQ was restricted and I could only rank between the 10th to the 15th. Many of my classmates joined coaching classes and started reading about a topic even before we were taught about it in school. Ignoramus that was me but I passed the 10th standard with 70 percent.

Then I reached 11th (SSC).  I was thrilled at my success but my locality friends asked me which classes I had joined and I asked for what? So they explained that special coaching is required. They went to these classes like Agrawal and others. Anyway, I did not heed their advice as I had full confidence in our teachers and their teaching. As it turned out I scored 71 percent in SSC. The family was ecstatic as no one had scored this high marks in my family. Then, nearly half the school joined Jai Hind College, so I also applied and joined that college and then went on to Medical School.

When I realized that the world is a complicated place and it's a rat race, I did not expect such fierce competition. But as a Xavierite, I could face anything and with just the confidence taught to me, I changed my whole attitude in college so that I could obtain my goal. The gist is that St. Xavier’s High School and faculty are the true reasons for my success. My foundation was erected with so much strength that it helped me be a surgeon. Even today I wonder what I was in school and how I reached this stage, even my classmates sometimes wonder. Today, I am a surgeon and my son Yash too is a surgeon. So I think the school really molded me as my basics were inculcated in school. I could face all situations in that manner whether personal or professional. My gratitude to my teachers and my school – St. Xavier’s High School, Fort!

Signed & Stamped

Dr. Asit Gore

About the author - Dr. Asit Gore

A practicing surgeon and senior panelist at the Cancer Patients Aid Association, Asit has been screening patients for cancer for over three decades. The Chairman of the National Association for the Blind, Rehabilitation Department, Worli, he is also a faculty member of their Physiotherapy course.

An avid reader of mainly fiction novels, this excellent swimmer has different strokes to relax to. A self proclaimed socialite and travel enthusiast, the woman behind his success is not a deceiving Delilah but his wife of over 30 years, the beautiful Varsha. Besides being the rock of the family, Varsha is a practicing counselor who has stood by Asit through thick and thin in this fierce competitive world. This counselor and surgeon’s son Yash, also a surgeon, is truly a well prescribed result of a beautiful and accomplished Gore family.

Always ready for a social gathering with friends, click her to see one of the many friendly meetings with the Class of Xaviers75.

Write your comment - Click “Post Comment” - Write your Name & Email - Click “Comment As Guest”

Here’s ASIT’S favorite song: DELILAH. It was surely a GORE moment.

I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more!

Next
Next

For Better, For Verse,…