The Great Divide…

The first thing that struck me that week was the difference between the NRIs and the so called RIs. Circumstances in Manipal tend to force this difference out into the open. The NRIs first arrive with a slight superiority complex – not that I’m trying to generalise or anything- it just happens that way. Fresh accents, shades and a flair for smooth dressing. Maybe it takes practice, but give it a while and you can tell the NRIs just by the way they enter a room. Sounds blown out of proportion? Maybe. It’s always seemed apparent to me.

The RIs, on the other hand, have come from all over India. Somehow, the tips of the subcontinent, Delhi and Kerala have a mammoth number of students in Manipal, while the entire country in between is vaguely represented. The language of choice being Hindi or Malayalam, they’re pretty easy to spot as well.

What about Karnataka? Oddly enough, the state that houses Manipal hasn’t seemed to produce too many students either rich or smart enough to get into Manipal. A handful got in through the quota reserved for them in the Karnataka Central Entrance Test (K-CET). These are, by definition, the hallowed nerds in class. In other words, they’re the ones who actually bother to study, and actually do well. The reasoning behind this is simple, and can be illustrated by the following extremely simple laws –

1. The final score obtained is directly proportional to the amount of mindless cramming attained.

2. The final score obtained is directly proportional to the hours spent in prayer the day of the exam and the degree of luck to which the student is accustomed.

3. The final score obtained is completely unrelated to the level of intelligence of the individual.

4. The final score obtained is never, ever enough.

I learnt this the hard way, but it was a good lesson to have learned. Sometimes I wonder if, had I known this, it would have made a difference at all. Knowing me though, I think not. Not studying is simply a congenital defect; atleast that’s what I always blame my lack of concentration on.

So where did I figure in the pot-pourri of nationalities? Well, I’m technically an NRI, having been brought up in Muscat, Oman for most of my life. Then again, I did two years of schooling in Bangalore and attempted the All-India Medical Entrance Exams from there. I’ve never quite been able to figure it out. If there is such a divide, I’m standing with one foot on either side, struggling to keep from falling into the chasm in between.