Dհarmistհa Seti (Kaul), a 1996 Indian graduate of Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi, excitedly steps into the university after 28 years, where every professor, subject, and classroom are vivid in her memory.
Armenia became her second homeland, medical education gave a new meaning to her life, because, in her opinion, medicine is the most humanitarian profession. It was here, in Yerevan, that 17-year-old Dharmistհa met her first and only love, her future husband, a student at the Polytechnic Institute.
The graduate considered the revisit to the Medical University one of the most important goals of her life. During that visit she tells with great excitement and pride about the choice of profession, the years she spent in our country, meeting her husband, and shares important advice for foreign students.
Communicating fluently in Russian and English, although she does not understand Armenian, she feels very comfortable in the Armenian environment.
– Why did you decide to choose the profession of a doctor? And why Armenia?
– I was born in India, and I had an inclination towards science from my childhood. I was a good pupil at school too. It was in 1998 when I finished my high school. And then wanted to go into medicine. At that time, we heard that in Russia you have to get some Medical Council of India exams and then you can go there to get into the medical university exams. I got into the medical universities of India but at that time I also got into Russian universities. My father was involved in politics at that time, so he had some contacts. And with the help of those contacts, I got an opportunity to come to Russia. I got to Moscow on 1-2 September of 1989. We didn’t know where to go as they will decide which city they will send you to. It was United Soviet Socialist Republic. When we reached Moscow, they told us you have to go to Yerevan. And 3 days of train trip from Moscow to Yerevan, somebody came to pick us up at station, took us to Avan, and there I spent about a year on preparatory courses. After that, the next year we were moved to Zeytun hostel, And I remember it was the sixth corpus where I stayed for the whole six years. We started our Medical Institute. We started anatomy. I remember my professor was Gohar Petrosovna at that time, and I think she was one of the best professors because whatever she taught me is still in my mind so clear. The foundation was very solid. I did well throughout my medical school years, had interest in studies from the beginning. There were some courses which were a little bit challenging but overall with studies I was good.
I remember Mikhail Aghajanov was very strict. There was a time I didn’t wear a white coat, I was wearing white shirt. And I was worrying about that he should not see that. He always wanted his students to wear white coat during the lectures.
Why I wanted to become a doctor? At that time in India there was a thinking: either you would become a doctor or an engineer. Nowadays time has changed: people are choosing so many different professions, and that’s very good. Nevertheless, I have no regrets, I think I came into the field which is so humanitarian. I think some of the foundations which I got in Yerevan State Medical University helped me further in my career. Those were the wonderful six years I had.
Armenia is such a nice, welcoming country. I have lived in different parts of the world: in America, in Europe, India and Africa, except for South America, I have lived in every continent, but I will truly say: “Yerevan is a very beautiful place, Armenia is a lovely country with a very welcoming people and great food, great culture. It’s a combination of Europe and Asia”. When we graduated, we went for a trip around Armenia and saw some of the beautiful places here.
– I know you met your husband here in Yerevan. Please, tell your story of love.
– We were in Avan for the foreign (Russian) language course for the first year. The engineering students used to live in Zeytun hostel at that time. The seniors used to come to Avan. So, first time I met my future husband in Avan. It was not a friendship in the beginning. I didn’t like him, he was very humorous, and I was a very serious person at that time. So, it was not love at first sight. I didn’t like to meet him again. But everything is a destiny. So, for some reasons it happened that we met in some groups for multiple times. Somewhere around my first-year, infatuation, not love, developed: we started seeing each other more frequently. At that time, I didn’t think of long-time relationships, and we were just meeting once in a month, there were months we weren’t meeting. He was doing his mechanical engineering at Polytechnic Institute. He is 3 years elder than me. He finished in 1994, left Armenia, and started working in India. From India he sent me some cards and gifts, and we were going to have a longtime relationship. I went back to India in 1995 for one-year internship, finished my internship in a hospital in India. At that time also I didn’t know where our relationship would go. But then in 1996 when I was about to finish my internship and come back to Yerevan for my final state exams, our families talked to each other, somehow it ended up very well: we got engaged. I came back to Yerevan, finished my exams, went back, and then he got to work in a company abroad. He left, but we had already been engaged, then our marriage was decided, we got married on 7th February 1998. After that he was travelling a lot for his work abroad, I was spending more time in India working in a hospital. I did my junior residency, during those residency years I had an opportunity to work in various government hospitals in India. Then I joined him in Nigeria and started working there as a medical officer. We had great time together, and in 2002 my son was born, and I think our family was complete. Then we moved to the United States, where I did my postgraduation in public health from University of Medicine and Dentistry on New Jersey. After that I had an opportunity to work not only in the same medical university, but also at New York University Langone Medical Center. After that we moved to Norway because of his work. Here I joined as a volunteer for an international health organization. Then we decided we needed to settle down, as our son was growing up. We moved to Canada. Since then, I’ve been in Canada. Here I used not only skills gained at YSMU but also other experience I gained working in hospitals across continents. Currently, I am working in the field of primary healthcare in Canada.
– Would you remember the years of study in Yerevan?
– Over these years, it was something which I could never forget: all my years spent here. I think the reason behind that was also my husband, we had something in common. Sometimes we use Russian language for some secret talks. These few words, few sentences always stay with us.
Some of the best things I remember from Yerevan was the culture. I still remember when we used to go on the streets, taxi used to just stop to us, and the drivers would start singing “Jimmy, Jimmy”, they would start talking about all Indian actors and actresses. Some of them never took any money from us, even invited us to their houses where we had great lunches and dinners. One of the things I remember from Yerevan a lot is fresh fruits and vegetables: those taste I have never met anywhere else so far.
All these years I had this desire, something was inside me that was always telling me I have to come back to Yerevan, I have to come and visit the university. Actually, I decided last year to come here with my husband to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. But, unfortunately, there was a death in our family. So, we had to cancel our trip at the last moment. But this year I had an opportunity to come for some work conference in Europe, and I decided this was the closest I could go to Yerevan. So, I took a flight, and I have been here for a week. I remember when I landed at Yerevan airport, I was almost in tears, because I could not believe that I was going back to this country after 28 years. Even all the time during the flight it was quite late in the night but I was all the time awake because I didn’t want to miss anything even it was deep dark. To be honest, the moment I entered the building of the Medical University, I was crying in front of security person who allowed me to enter.
So many memories came into my mind. I remember our lectures, during one of the lectures I was feeling so sleep, and one of the lecturers shouted at me, but even in that shout there was so much of love.
When I came to the Medical University, I went to every single floor trying to put my memories together. I met with Yervand Sahakyan, the Vice-Rector for External Affairs and International Cooperation, who was our Dean at that time. I found photos contributed by group friends who were my classmates at that time: in two of the photographs I found a young Yervand Sahakovich Sahakyan. Of course, he looks young now, but he was a little bit younger at that time. And you start to realize how 28 years have passed. Then you start realizing how important it is to live the life and do what you want to do. I always wanted to come to Yerevan, I think I am blessed. I am very much blessed to revisit my past. A university does not only give you a career, it makes you as a person too. I got my love and my future husband here, I got my education here. I saw the tough days here that prepared me for the worst in the future. At the same time, all these years, despite all the successes and some challenges in life one thing was missing: I had to revisit this place. I am so blessed that I came back and saw it.
– What is your advice to international students who study in Medical University at this time?
– Life is so short. Live your life and do whatever you want to do in this life. One thing I would like to say to everyone: try to revisit your past and live every moment of your live because life is too short. Honestly, I never felt that I am that old, but coming here I realized that 28 years was a very long time: a whole new generation has come. We are always in rush towards future, but we don’t live in the present. So, live in the present. Because your present will determine your future.
I have seen various types of students, and I know some of my friends may not like it, but some of them didn’t use to study regularly. And I remember them coming to me a day before the final exam saying: “Please, please, help”. I remember three or four of them would surround me, by that time I had been doing my second revision, and I would just write a few notes on the notebook, they would make a copy of it. They used to study from them and get “three”. At that time, they called me “otlichnitsa” (excellent student): “five” was my score in every single subject.
The most important reason you came to university is to study, everything is in the second place. Enjoy your life, have parties, do some silly mistakes, make sure you don’t make some serious mistakes in your life, learn from mistakes. But never forget what is the prime reason you have come here. Keep your education on the top. Here the people were used to hold your hand and say: “Come to the lectures”. Believe me, the time will never come back, study hard, try not to miss your classes a lot.
I remember when I finished, my picture came in the university newspaper as a second generation of graduates. They also sent a letter in English to my parents saying: “Yerevan State Medical University is thankful to you for bringing up such a diligent daughter who is a true Indian citizen who finished her course”. I remember when I went back to India, my dad was so proud of his daughter. I still have that letter. It’s not just a piece of a paper, it is a paper that talks for your character. So, make sure that when you come here to study, not only prove yourself as a wordy citizen of a country you belong to, but also bring good name to the country you have come to study.
Interview: by Tatevik Ghazaryan
Photos: from the personal archive of the YSMU graduate
