I am an engineer by qualification and a global head in a company by profession. I am a man of science and not one to believe in anything unless it is tried, tested and proven. I can be vociferous in my criticism of things that do not match upto scientific standards. For the same reason, I am an atheist. I do not visit temples and I do not engage in rituals and loud beckoning and callings upon God. I will never be insulting to those who engage in these rituals however and I believe in the freedom of choice of every person on Earth. I may not reject anything out rightly, I feel proud to sense that I am open to new ideas and concepts provided they prove their mettle.
It was in such a mind set that I contracted tuberculosis 18 years ago.
It was in the form of a cold abscess. We went ahead with the surgeon’s advice and got it excised and I was put on anti-tubercular treatment for 9 months. 15 days into the treatment however, and I developed two more abscesses. We went back to the surgeon. He said he had put me on the highest possible dose of the anti-tubercular medicines prevailing at that time and that we need to excise the abscess again. I just asked him one question, what if another abscess develops again? He replied ,”We need to operate on you again if an abscess redevelops. There is no other way to get rid of it”
That clinched matters. I refused to go ahead with the surgery. I had no better option, but I knew that I was not going to go ahead with procedures that obviously afforded no cure.
This was the time that I was introduced to Homeopathy by a close friend. I was very sceptical initially, after all what could small, white pills do where gigantic and apparently potent and proven anti-tubercular drugs failed? Also I had faint reminiscences of people labelling it as placebo and witchcraft. This was a natural conclusion as there seemed nothing scientific about Homeopathy. Those who vouched for it couldn’t explain how the medicines acted on the human body ( if they acted at all!) How could these tiny pills have any conceivable and believable influence on my 70 Kg frame? What are these dubious medicines made of? Or is it pure psychological relief they offer?
These and many other questions succeeded in justifying my unwillingness to ‘try’ these sweet pills. But my friend was very staunch in her belief about Homeopathy and insisted that at least I meet the Homeopathic doctor. ‘Homeopathic who? Are they really doctors to begin with?’ I countered. But she was very patient and persistent and I was in a no choice situation and finally we landed at the Homeopathic doctor’s doorstep.
I was subjected to intense questioning for over two hours, my reports were scrutinised (surprisingly!) I was thoroughly examined by the Homeopath (another surprise!) A few more (irrelevant) questions were asked. I had reached the end of my patience. At the same time, I admit to being slightly taken aback at the elaborate and systematic way in which I was catered to. Case taking over, the Homeopath handed me a small pack of powder and a bottle of pills. He gave me instructions as to how to take the medicine, what to observe and what to expect after a week of medicine. I went home half wondering whether I should really take these pills and half angry at myself at having given in to my friend’s insistence. I took the medicine however more out of a sense of being fair to the good doctor.
I did not particularly expect anything to happen and…nothing did happen…..at least not for the next two days. On the third day, I got up to experience a strange feeling at the site of the abscess. On closer examination, I realised that the abscess had burst! The second abscess too burst over the next two days! I was totally astounded! I was off anti-tubercular medicines for several days now and the only medicine I had taken were these sweet pills! Could they really have achieved what the surgeon hoped to achieve? Could they have served to work as the surgeon’s scalpel? Over the next few days and months, my clinical condition steadily improved. A repeat investigation at the end of a few months confirmed normal parameters which signified that I was cured of tuberculosis but without anti-tubercular drugs! This was incredible! Simply unbelievable!
It is always very easy to reject, I realised, than it was to be open and rational. This dramatic cure was a very personal experience and hence was a formidable proof that the homeopathic medicines had stimulated certain changes in my body that had successfully evicted the tuberculosis from my system. Brainstorming sessions with various people connected in some way to Homeopathy and with the Homeopaths themselves who presented statistical data to my eager senses, further reinforced my faith. I realised that it is not easy to prove the modus operandi of Homeopathic medicines. I realised that for the common man, Homeopathy is more a science of experience than of theoretical concepts and formulations. I realised that physics, too, as we know it today, has come a long way from classical Newtonian physics of the earlier century largely due to an open attitude and objective experiments by scientists of the likes of Albert Einstein and Max Planck. What was yesterday was more refined today and this will continue into the future with the dawn of the era of knowledge and information. Who knows, scientific advances in the future can provide irrefutable evidence of the mode of action of Homeopathic medicines. Till then, let’s keep the faith…..!
- Prasanna