GMC Guntur - AMC Visakhapatnam July 1954

I Am a Medical Student
1954 - Journey Guntur - Visakhapatnam
BaalaKrishna Murthy (Moorthy) Raamaraaju - Journey from Guntur (Garthapuri) to Vizag (Visaakhapatnam) Early July 1954 : now I am almost twenty , first time solo independent trip away from home . From the time I was born in 1934 till now in 1954 , all my travels were in the company of either my parents or grandparents , the trips covering ancestral places in Krishna and Guntur Districts on the northern and southern banks of our mother River Krishna ( Krishnaveni) such as my birth town Guntur , Mangalagiri abode of Paanakaala Lakshmi Narasimha , Vijayawaada ( Bezawaada) abode of Kanaka Durga on top Indrakeelaadri Hill , and village Ghantasaala , and in 1952 a chaperoned travel to Madras (Chennai) for my Medical College Admission Interview . But now in July 1954 ( date I forgot having not in the habit of maintaining a diary ) I undertook train journey first phase by a meter gauze train which traversed Dakshina Bhaarath from coast to coast originating at Vasco da Gaama in the west , ending in Masula ( Machilipatnam in the east , via Guntur . I boarded third class compartment at Guntur and journeyed to Bezawaada ( Vijayawaada ) on the way looking at Mangalagiri Narasimha , Crossing River Krishna from south to north ; then I changed into one and only Broad Gauze Train Madras-Howrah Mail in those days only one train going up from south to north along the east coast of Bhaarath ( Bay of Bengal ). In those days this train journey was an arduous travel in a third class general compartment without any reservation most of the time standing with an occasional chance to sit , but being young was able to endure nearly 24 hour journey and arrived safely in Waltair ( Visaakhapatnam ) Railway Station , met by a clerk from Andhra Medical College , taken by a bus to Men's Hostel atop a small hillock , allotted a shared room , was introduced to the warden Doctor B Shanmukheswararao gaaru and was allowed to dine in the mess after paying requisite hostel and mess fee . So friends I have arrived to commence my Clinical Phase of Medical College as a third year medical student ( medico ) and I am going to spend here from July 1954 to June 1957 . Let me rest and tomorrow is the Big D-Day , orientation , introduction to Principal and Clinical Faculty - I am excited at being on my own and let us see what tomorrow holds . AATHREYA