By Dr. C.G. Narasimhan
Getting admission to the medical course in the then Mysore State was a dream come true those days in 1950s. There were only two medical colleges. Mysore Medical College was started in 1924 while the Bangalore Medical College was just then started in the year 1955. Though Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and Karnatak Medical College in Hubli were started in 1953 and 1957 respectively, they were both not in Karnataka State then. Naturally, there was keen competition for admission to these two colleges in Mysore and Bangalore. Those days after SSLC, we joined intermediate classes. CBZ and PCB (Biology) were the preferred combinations that would make one eligible to go for medical course. A few from PCM and after B.Sc. used to get selected. Getting a percentage of 60 to 65 in the third part (CBZ or PCM), as it was called, would ensure a seat in the Medical College. With 64%, I was one among 100 to get admitted to Mysore Medical College in July 1957. The selection was strictly by merit and by caste reservation. Coming from a remote and a backward place of Chitradurga I was all at sea in the Royal city of Mysore.
