Despite his best efforts, Rajendra Pradhan, a pharmacist in southern Odisha’s Koraput district Circle Jail could not realise his dream of becoming a doctor. In time, he wanted both his sons to be doctors. Mr. Pradhan tried to get his older son, Amlan, enrolled in a medical college in India, but his rank in competitive exams was not high enough. His next best option had to be a medical college in Ukraine, the father decided, and Mr. Amlan did go on to graduate from one.
In the same way, Mr. Pradhan’s second son, Anshuman, is now a medical student, in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. The dream, though, has turned into a nightmare as the young man is hiding in a bunker, hoping to get out safely from the war-torn nation.
“The older son is a house surgeon at the SCB Medical College, Cuttack. The second son, who is in the fifth year [of medical education in Kharkiv], would have become a doctor here in a year. We have sold land and taken bank loans to realise our dream. We hope the setback is temporary,” Surendra Pradhan, the youth’s uncle, said.
