Shocking to realise caste matters in Mumbai, says Bhil medical student

MUMBAI: Nineteen-year-old Vijay Tadvi takes pain to explain he isn't related to Dr Payal Tadvi, the resident doctor who committed suicide at civic-run Nair Hospital, near Mumbai Central, last week. There are some commonalities though: both Payal and Vijay hail from the Tadvi Bhil community and came from Jalgaon district to Mumbai to pursue medicine.
What Vijay -- an undergraduate medical student from state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla --feels is empathy for Payal who, according to her parents and husband, had to put up with casteist remarks and mental harassment from her seniors. On May 28 (Tuesday), he joined other medical students to protest for `justice for Payal’ outside Nair Hospital.
Casteist observations are not uncommon, Vijay told TOI. No one appreciates the fact that he secured 90% in CBSE Class XII exams or that he has made it from a small village (Sangavi) in Jalgaon to one of Mumbai's best medical school. They only ask for his NEET score. "The minute I say 300, they say, `Oh so you are from the reserved category'," he said. Mumbai medical schools usually need more than double his NEET score for admission.
Vijay is the son of a farm labourer who had to borrow the Rs 14,000 that he needed to pay as first year fees in the medical school. He couldn’t join any classes to prepare for NEET. "Ex-students from Navgaon school in Chandrapur send me Rs 3,500 every month as living expenses," he said.
It hurts him that the quota or 'caste' remark wasn't a one-off occurrence. "It happens regularly. Such experiences could build up to something worrisome in people who don't have the coping mechanism," he said.
If one keeps hearing such remarks, there is a chance of developing an inferiority complex. "It is so wrong that someone like Payal was subjected to such harassment. We, as doctors, are supposed to save people, not drive people to take their own lives.''
He had thought caste wouldn't matter in Mumbai with its bright lights and opportunities. "But people here mention it openly. It wasn't so in my village," said Vijay, who hasn't discussed any of caste matter with his parents. "They have their own worries and problems to deal with. Why should I add to their burden," he asked. He hopes he can pursue postgraduate studies in Mumbai as well. "My dream is to specialise in medicine or surgery and head back to serve my people in the rural areas,'' he added.