Why I Go to India Every Year: Drs. Banerji

 

I’m often asked why I travel each year to Kolkata, India, to spend weeks in the Prasanta and Pratip Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation, studying beside father and son doctors Prasanta and Pratip Banerji.

There are certainly many closer places I could spend my professional time; I could go to Greece or England or Italy.

So, why do I consistently gravitate toward this particular clinic/research center?

It all comes down to surprises. (And everyone loves surprises!)

Twenty-two years ago, while I was a practicing classical homeopath in New York, a colleague mentioned to me in passing that there were doctors in India who, using only homeopathy, each saw 100 patients per day (who had diseases such as AIDS, TB and various cancers), and their methods had consistently high cure rates.

At the time, I was incredulous. “That’s not possible to take that many cases in a day,” I thought, and dismissed the idea as someone’s misinterpretation of the facts.

Two years later, I heard the same statement … this time from a different, older, respected colleague. I pricked up my ears.

As a classical homeopath, and as much as I loved my craft, I was too often disappointed with not only the amount of time to take a case and the inconsistency in the method but more importantly, the difficulty in teaching the method to families because of its complexity.

At the time, it was impossible for me to travel to India to witness something of this order, given the ages of my children. So, I tucked this information away in my head as something I would look into some time in the future.

Then six years ago, another colleague emailed me that he was sponsoring a father-son team of doctors from India to speak locally at the college where he and I had taught homeopathy.

He said, “Joette, these are the doctors who see 100 patients each per day and …”

I leaped to my feet.

Do you ever have that feeling when you know that something important is about to happen in your life, and you know that in your response, you said the exact right thing at the exact right time?

That doesn’t happen to me often. But at that moment, I knew down to my toes that what was forthcoming would be perfect and profound.

I replied, “I’ll be there. And would you be so kind as to arrange for me to have lunch with them?”

And so, I met the Drs. Banerji and thus, the surprises began.

During that lunch, when I asked if I could join Dr. Pratip Banerji at his research center to observe, he said, “Certainly!”

We instantly clicked and to this day, after six awesome and eye-opening years of working with him, we have become fast friends. He calls me his American sister and I call him my Indian brother.

The first year I sat with Dr. Pratip and his esteemed father, Dr. Prasanta Banerji (whom I now affectionately and reverently refer to as “Baba”, which means esteemed father), there were more surprises than I had ever thought possible.

What I witnessed was an established scientific research and data collection center that is unrivaled in the world today — not only in the homeopathic world but the world of medicine in general.

His and his family’s data spans over 150 years — encompassing not only his lifetime, but the lifetimes of his father, his father’s father, and his great-uncle.

At the time of this writing, their patient database has more than 40,000 cases inputted, with over half a million visits recorded.

This ongoing research initiative is the epicenter of these doctors' work, which makes it particularly attractive for research to premiere institutions throughout the world.

I fully expected greatness, but was astounded by the sweeping accolades from the Indian, as well as American and European, governments who heap praises and awards on these doctors and their research. (See the previous blog on the stamp designed in their honor.)

What they have amassed is indeed an international consortium research foundation with collaboration from around the globe.

But what struck me most on my first visit was a jaw-dropping revelation; the sheer number of patients the Banerjis and their staff of senior doctors see in one day.

Patients are simply not turned away, even if it means Dr. Pratip Banejri must take cases well into the night … every night. (And I know how late he works with patients because I have sat by his side many a time.)

I was very surprised by Dr. Pratip Banerji’s unwavering expectation of near-perfection (not only from himself but also from his junior and senior doctors).

He runs his operation with a kind but overtly austere hand. Not a single mistake is tolerated. Attention to every detail in case taking, assessment of lab reports, MRIs, and X-rays must be perfect.

Even spelling and penmanship are critically reviewed. Nothing less than accuracy and professionalism is allowed on every level.

At first glance, the clinic appears chaotic. It’s sensory overload, as hordes of people dressed in brightly colored traditional (as well as Western) garb amass outside the clinic, in the waiting rooms and pharmacy.

But even more shocking is that the clinic is anything BUT chaotic. It is highly structured, orderly, and precise. It was the sheer mass of people that startled me on my first visit and still moves me to this day when I try to negotiate and navigate my exit from the compound through the crowds to grab a cup of tea.

So thick are the crowds that my dear friend, Dr. Vivekta Sharma (one of the esteemed senior doctors) and I clasp hands as she confidently pulls me through the multitudes.

This all takes place on the first level of the clinic.

On the second level, junior doctors are perched at their computers inputting information from the MRIs, photos, X-rays, and blood labs, with the prescription that is always strictly homeopathic medicines for each case that is taken for the day.

There, they record data of the treatment of all cases of various types of cancers and other life-threatening diseases such as renal failure, multiple sclerosis, TB, and even leprosy.

                 The staff guard directs the crowds that await their turn outside the clinic.

That means that there is often input for over 1,200 cases daily. In spite of Dr. Pratip’s education as a conventional medical doctor, his patients count on his and all of the doctors using only homeopathy, most often because conventional medicine has failed them.

This is why they flock here. The word is out:  this is where you come when all else has failed. They come on gurneys, on homemade stretchers,  on the backs of relatives, in ambulances, in chauffeur-driven cars. 

They just come.

This is also why the likes of the National Institute of Health in the US, Anderson Cancer Institute, Roswell Cancer Institute, Columbia University, The University of San Diego, St Luke’s Hospital, and other orthodox medical institutions ask the Drs. Banerji to present their methods in hopes of collaborating with these great minds.

Apart from these well-known institutions in the USA, the Drs. Banerji receive offers from medical research institutions in Spain, Japan, Israel and various South American and African countries.

Dr. Pratip Banerji’s laser-like focus on diagnostics also surprised me, and here’s why: most homeopaths don’t rely fully on the typical method of diagnosis employed by conventional doctors.

That is because they employ classical homeopathy in which the diagnosis is not as important as the symptoms. However, Dr. Pratip Banerji is a different kind of homeopath.

He possesses an extraordinary diagnostic ability, not only because of his conventional medical training but because he believes the diagnosis, as well as the symptoms, is paramount to choosing the correct homeopathic medicine.

How do I know that he was correct in his diagnosis and treatment, time and time again, even with conditions that were sometimes vague?

Because when I have returned each year, I have followed up on certain cases from the previous year that I found particularly fascinating — and the patients invariably improved; often to cure.

His patients include high governmental officials (including the President of India, Royalty of India, and the Kingdom of Bhutan), the most influential merchants in India, as well as village dwellers from across the country.

I am introduced to a broad demographic of patients that convinced me — this was no ordinary doctor that I was sitting beside.

So, to those who have asked why I would travel 23 hours across the globe every year for years, to sit next to this extraordinary man day after day, for as many as 13 weeks, my answer should come as no surprise: I am sitting next to history in the making.

 

 

Warmly,

 

P.S. I didn’t include a Banerji Protocol for this article.  But stay tuned; more will be forthcoming.