Nostalgia has a way of sneaking up on you. You try to avoid comparing the “good old days” to the present, but somehow, you end up doing it anyway.

The younger generation hates it. They roll their eyes when we compare the 60s and 70s to today. But as you age, those comparisons just happenโ€”whether you like it or not.

Back in my dayโ€”in the early 1960sโ€”we didnโ€™t have “KG” or ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘›. No, we had ๐ต๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘–r and ๐‘†โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘ข ๐‘‰๐‘–โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿโ€”names that sound like they belong in a fairytale. It was the Hindi and Marathi equivalent of the sleek German names we hear today.

And the best part? We went to public schoolsโ€”good old Hindi and Marathi medium.

The first four years of school? Free. Yes, no fees. Can you even imagine that today? Then came grades 5 to 8, where my parents started paying Rs 2.50 a month.

Hold on, it gets better! I switched to another school in Wardha that taught science in English (you know, the “fancy” stuff). The fees shot up to Rs 3.20 per month. But there was a catchโ€”I got a โ€œbrother concessionโ€ because my older brother was already studying there. That knocked my fees back down to Rs 2.60 a month.

Hereโ€™s the twist to the tale: I went to Jankidevi Bajaj Science College in Wardha in 1972. Ironically, just a few years ago, the Bajaj family dropped their grandmotherโ€™s name, keeping only the family name. A Padma Bhushan awardee, she helped build the very institution where her name was erased. I wonder what she would have thought.

We paid less than Rs 10 a month for the year we spent studying Botany, Zoology, Physics, Chemistry, andโ€”of courseโ€”English.

Now, letโ€™s talk about the big leaguesโ€”1973, the year I entered GMC Nagpur. My tuition fees? Rs 72 per semester. Yes, you heard that right. A year later, they raised the fees to Rs 78 per semester. A whole six rupees for six months.

The reaction? Chaos. Students were in an uproar, and most parents were furious. They marched straight to the dean, demanding the fees be lowered. With a calm but firm tone, the dean looked at them and said, “The fees wonโ€™t be rolled back. They stay as they are.” Much like todayโ€™s deans, he was as stubborn as ever. No reduction.

Now, letโ€™s do some quick math. For my entire five-year MBBS at GMC Nagpur, my parents paid Rs 700 in tuitionโ€”the same amount theyโ€™d pay for a hotel stay. The mess bill? Rs 45 a month. So, the grand total for my entire MBBS education? Just Rs 2,700.

All this included tuition fees, hostel rent, and mess chargesโ€”education, accommodation, and food, all covered.

As for my PG, my parents didnโ€™t have to spend a dime. PG was free, and we were given a stipend of Rs 150 during our internship and Rs 450 during residency.

Fast forward to today, and Iโ€™m speechless. If todayโ€™s medical students and residents read this, their jaws would drop.

So, what happened? Was medical education back then ridiculously cheap because of public colleges? Or have private medical colleges driven the cost so high that itโ€™s now out of reach for the common man?

That, to me, is the million-dollar question.

It makes me wonder: was my entire educationโ€”from KG to PGโ€”a bargain in comparison?

Only PM Modi and President Trump have the answer.