Dr.A.Ramdas, a renowned Homeopath of Bangalore is perhaps one of his kind. Sandhya Prabhakar speaks to Dr. Ramdas, who is one of the first qualified homeopaths to start practice in the city. His untiring dedication to his field and to his patients has been enough to place him on a pedestal, so to say, to hundreds of them. His listening skills and his compassionate understanding of the patient is such a catharsis that you feel better the minute you meet him. Is it that he already initiated the healing process? Is it that the illness was psycho-somatic? Or is it that there was no illness at all?

Dr.Ramdas joined his father Dr. A. R. A. Acharya’s medical practice thirty five years back without any hesitation. He says that in those days life and its decisions were simple and he simply followed suit. He himself has never taken any other medicine. When his mother fell seriously ill in 1939, his father, an employee of Bombay Railways, brought her to Dr.T.S.Iyer, a famous homeopath of Bangalore. He was almost disappointed when the doctor administered a single dose of these minute sugar pills and asked him to go back to Bombay. Later that proved to be the miracle cure. Dr.Acharya resigned and joined Dr.T.S.Iyer and went on to popularize homeopathy in a big way in Bangalore.

Dr.Ramdas himself, a Post-graduate from Bombay Homeopathic Medical College takes keen interest in academics and has taught homeopathy at various places in India and abroad. Pointing out the peripheral approach of allopathy in targeting just the disease he says that homeopathy targets the man with the disease. Allopathy heavily rests on diagnosis while Homeopathy approaches the normal immunity, taking cognizance of the mind, body and soul. Homeopathy is proved on healthy humans, not on rats and pigs. So, the changes are experienced and expressed by the provers themselves. Materia Medica, the ‘bible’ of homeopathy is a record of this. Homeopathy is based on the principle, “what causes will cure”. For instance, if raw onion can cause runny nose and watery eyes, ‘Alium Cepa’, a homeopathic drug is an effective cure for certain types of allergic rhinitis, which has similar symptoms.

He rubbishes the misconception that homeopathic drugs contain steroids, saying that it is a conspiracy of pharmaceutical companies and its practitioners as it is a perceived threat. Homeopathy cannot be proved ‘in-vitro’ but ‘in-vivo’. He thinks aloud, “science is immature, it must progress…”

Dr.Ramdas does not wish to comment on some homeopaths claiming a miracle cure for practically everything. He affirms, “There are curable individuals, not curable diseases. The economies of the individual are most instrumental in bringing about positive internal tissue alterations and thus the cure. You heal yourself, I am only an instrument”. Homeopathy, being a science of medical observations, the homeopath must work very hard to achieve not just effectiveness but also efficiency. Today, with the improvement in diagnostics, facts have led to concepts and then only practised, he clarifies.

Emphasizing the role of listening in homeopathy, Dr.Ramdas feels that to get into the real genesis of the ailment, one has to wait for the patient to unfold. “Eyes first, ears next, hands later and mouth last” should be the mantra for homeopathic practitioners according to Dr.Ramdas.

Can homeopathy be resorted to in a medical emergency? He answered that homeopathy works on a dynamic plane. Therefore, if the disease has developed on a dynamic plane, then, surely homeopathy works in an emergency-say, in case of a broken limb in an accident or in a case of poisoning, homeopathy alone may not be recommended. He quoted the recent case of a patient howling and rolling with stomach pain at the appendix point. She was effectively treated for appendicitis with homeopathy alone. Many of the doctor’s patients after dental treatment have taken only homeopathic drugs and not antibiotics. There are others who have effectively managed diabetes also - insulin dependence may continue but concomitant problems can be taken care of by homeopathy.

Dr.Ramdas’ expertise and compassionate dedication has stretched into humanistic service as well. Despite a tireless schedule of about twelve hours each day, he spends 2 days in a week in the village of Ravugudlu and Dinnepalya 30 kms from Bangalore. There he counsels, treats and has brought about an intrinsic change in the lives of these villagers. He believes that when distressed people seek his help, the least he can do is to be available to them. Working with these villagers has been deeply satisfying. The self-respect of a very old, almost penniless woman who forced him to take Rs. 5 as fees is perhaps the most touching moment and a priceless gift that he has received in his career…

He has groomed over 25 students who are excelling in their practice. His workshops to the interns have been a treasure. He noted with satisfaction that his students are in “the right groove” and their sense of service and dedication does him proud.

Some of his most satisfying cases? He recalls the lady from Peru who was admitted on his advice to the homeopathic hospital with primary Hepatitic Carcinoma. After one and a half months this lady who came on a wheel chair went back walking with a smile. He also remembers how he sat and watched his son for four hours when he was down with very high temperature. As a father and with the entire family in distress, it was a trying moment; but he watched for just one clue which could help him decide. When the boy wailed, “take me home”, he could decide! Yes! The little one obviously hated his pre-school. The miracle dose worked! There was this 80 year old man whose “scrotum was as big as a football” with fluid collection. With treatment he developed profuse diarrhea only to be cured!

If the cost-effectiveness and its benefits was there for all to see, how about integrating with other streams of medicine? It is definitely valid says Dr. Ramdas. He recalled a prominent pediatric hospital in Mumbai where diagnostics are used to monitor the progress through Homeopathy. Very rarely due to panic, allopathic drugs are administered. After all the doctors duty is to find a cure and not to prove the superiority of his brand of medicine.

Perhaps it is this humanism which endears him to his patients who swear by him. His intern assistant Dr. Suma enthusiastically reacts, “Working with Dr, Ramdas has been awesome and the most inspiring experience… “

"Need we say more about this genius of the minute dose?"

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