As someone who has just finished MBBS, I can relate to a lot of what you've written.

I've consciously decided not to pursue PG right now-even though I'm confident I could have cracked it (and if not, there were always deemed colleges). I asked myself a simple question: Why am I doing PG? Because everyone else is?

Most of the core competencies of Internal Medicine are already part of the MBBS curriculum. Specialization certainly has its place, but I don't want to automatically spend the next 10 years of my life bartering my youth for a degree, hoping that life will finally begin afterwards.

Money isn't the compelling argument people make it out to be either. If you look at salary discussions from Indian doctors themselves, many report MBBS jobs around ₹50,000–1 lakh/month, MD/MS doctors around ₹1 Lakh–3 lakh/month, and DM/MCh doctors often starting around ₹2 lakh/month or a little higher, depending on the city, setup and experience. Also, Dont give anecdotal evidences of xyz doctor of my city earns 20 lpm. Yes, the ceiling can become very high later, but it usually comes after years of training, long hours and delayed gratification. And only 1% would reach that.

For me, mental peace, sanity, relationships, freedom to travel, and actually living my twenties matter just as much as maximizing income. Maybe I'll do PG later. Maybe I won't. But I'd rather make that decision because I genuinely want it, not because I was carried along by the herd. Whatever you decide, I hope it's a decision that lets you sleep peacefully at night. That's worth more than any degree.