THE BOY WHO WANTED TO BE A MONK. EDUCATION OF A RESTLESS MIND - Dr. Aloke Mullick

What happens when a top-ranked medical student-expected to follow a predictable path of postgraduate success-keeps getting distracted by geometry, electronics, aeroplanes... and God? In this richly observed and delightfully humorous memoir, the author takes readers through his formative years-from schooldays to the chaos, camaraderie, and quiet revelations of medical college. Told in a warm, gently irreverent voice, the book captures a world where lectures compete with daydreams, exams coexist with existential questions, and some of the most important lessons arrive entirely unscheduled.

Meet unforgettable characters: a classmate who treats exams as a long-term hobby, a professor who teaches by walking and catches doodles mid-flight, friends who blur the line between genius and mischief, and moments that swing between the absurd and the profound. Beneath the humour lies a deeper current-the story of a mind that refuses to stay confined to a single track.

As the author navigates expectations, excels academically, and yet feels pulled elsewhere, a quiet realisation forms: that life's direction is not always decided by achievement, but by attention-by what continues to call you, even when you are doing everything "right."Beautifully written in a style that blends wit, nostalgia, and reflection, this first part of the memoir is not just about becoming a doctor-it is about becoming aware.