India 2009 - travels part 2

After Pondicherry we travelled inland for a few days. We got the bus to Tiruvannamalai which is about 180 km south west of Chennai.

The Arunachaleswarar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva dominates the town and was built between the 16th and the 17th centuries by the kings of the Vijayanagara empire. The temple is famous for its massive gopurams. The temple is a site of great religious importance and many people come here for pilgrimages and for the many festivals that take place in the town. We got up early one morning to walk up Arunachala hill to see the sunrise, unfortunately we saw more cloud and mist than sun but we had a nice walk!

We spent a day exploring the nearby ruins at Gingee. The fort was built on three hills and the walls are up to 60 feet thick in places. The buildings were carved out of the rocks and included shrines, temples, accommodation and huge stores for grain and oil for when the site was beseiged, which it often was. The oldest part dates back to the 9th century while most was built in the 13th century. The scale of the fortifications is quite incredible and in spite of this the fort was the site of frequent battles and changed hands many times over the years. It was declared a national monument in 1921 and is well looked after by the Archeological Department. It really is a fantastic and impressive site but seems to get very few visitors.


After a very long, hot, walk up and down the hills to see the fort we were pretty exhausted and hungry. So we wandered along the main road towards Gingee town and stopped for a welcome chai and some food. The parota are always very tasty all over southern India and making them is a very specialised job. The parota maker was very happy for us to take some photos of him at work.
It makes me feel hungry just thinking about all that tasty food!

India 2009 - travels part 1

After Kolkata we spent a couple of weeks travelling round Tamil Nadu. We flew into Chennai and headed straight for Mamallapuram on the coast. On our visits to India we have generally avoided touristy areas so this was a bit different for us, we initially found it hard to find Indian food as most of the cafes seemed to be catering for the bland tastes of european visitors. All around the town are fantastically ornate temples which have been carved out of the rocks. Most of the carvings were done between the 7th and 9th centuries. The five rathas are particularly impressive and are carved out of one huge lump of granite. Two of the rathas are in the picture below.After this we spent a few days in Pondicherry. A bizarre but fantastic bit of France in southern India. A town where you can get proper coffee and croissants and hear locals chattering away in french in cafes. The street signs and tree lined avenues near the seafront really do make you feel like you are in France, but the market area, especially on a Sunday, is very much like any other part of India. The beach is a real focal point for the locals and tourists alike. It seems everyone comes out to promenade along the seaside at sunset and quite a few come along at sunrise too.


Those of you who know my fiance Lyndon will know he likes goats. I've promised him that one day we will get some of our own! He took this picture in Mamallapuram early one morning.

India 2009 - wedding

The main reason for our return to Kolkata in February was to go to a wedding. Our friends Suve and Ellie had a traditional Hindu ceremony in Kolkata on Valentines day. Suve's family are from Shibpur and many relatives still live there and they were all very hospitable and made us feel welcome. One of Suves uncles gave us a little tour of the district, this picture was taken just near the Banerjee family home.
The first day of the celebrations took place in Shibpur and was a huge meal for friends and family of the bridegroom. There was a seemingly endless supply of wonderful food and Suve had a quite enormous plate to get through, all his female relatives stood behind him to tell him what order to eat it in! He doesn't have much of an appetite so some of the others had to help him out and tidy it up.


The main wedding service took place on the Saturday at a large marriage hall. The ceremony was very interesting to watch and at various points friends and relatives got involved. The priest was very patient with Ellie's dad as he struggled to get to grips with Sanskrit. Ellie and Suve looked fantastic in their wedding outfits.

India 2009 - homeopathy

We went back to Kolkata for a week in February this year to attend a wedding then spent a couple of weeks travelling around Chennai. While we were in Kolkata I was able to join Dr Banerjea for a couple of days in his homeopathy clinics. The Bengal Allen Medical Institue run an exchange every year for foreign homeopaths and this comprises a combination of lectures and clinic visits. I did this course in 2008 and it was a fantastic experience. The Institute runs free homeopathy clinics in various parts of Kolkata and we spent a great deal of time in these. They have a small van which acts as a mobile dispensary.
It always amuses me when people criticise homeopathy and say that people only appear to get better because they have a chance to talk about themselves for a while. In my clinic the first appointment would take 90 minutes to 2 hours, in these free clinics the first consultation could well be less than 5 minutes. Dr Banerjea has such a detailed knowlege of homeopathic remedies he regulaly sees around 50 patients in a 3 hour clinic and patients still get better without the long chats! A new clinic has recently been set up near Dr Banerjeas ancestral home which is near Barasat to the north east of Kolkata. Dr Banerjeas uncle was a Hindu priest and the house still has a shrine and a resident priest. A clinic building has recently been constructed in the grounds. The clinic is in a very rural area and as they don't get many foreign visitors we were a bit of an attraction. Myself and Camilla were sat by the window and regularly had small children jump up behind us to see what was going on!

Another Indian Adventure

I will be in India from 9^th Feb until 1^st March and back in the clinic in Settle as normal on Monday 2^nd. I will not be able to deal with email or phone messages while I am away. I will update you on my travels when I return but we will be in Kolkata to attend the wedding of our friends, Suve and Ellie, then heading south to spend a couple of weeks around Chennai. If you need some homeopathic advice during this period then contact my colleague Samantha Glossop on 07877 138210.

If you want some urgent advice over the phone you might like to call the Homeopathy Helpline which is available between 9am and midnight. This is particularly useful if you have some remedies at home as they can often suggest something which may help deal with the problem. If they suggest a remedy that you don?t have they will be able to tell you where you can get hold of it. The advice given is mainly concerned with acute problems such as fevers, coughs and colds, tummy bugs or childhood illnesses but they can also discuss other problems and help you to decide whether homeopathic treatment is appropriate. If it is not suitable they may direct you to another form of therapy or suggest you contact your GP.

This service is only available within the United Kingdom and calls are charged at BT premium rate which is approx £1.50 per minute, this may sound a lot but calls can be short if you are clear about the symptoms and think about what questions you are likely to be asked. These are things like - when did the problem start, did it come on quickly or slowly, does anything make the problem better or worse, are there any desires or aversions to food or drink?

Homeopathy Helpline 09065 34 34 04

http://www.homeopathyhelpline.com/

Oh Calcutta

In January 2008 I went to Calcutta for a month to spend time at the Bengal Allen Institute. The course was organised by Dr Subrata Banerjea and was a combination of lectures and visits to slum clinics and lecturers consulting rooms. The first, and most striking thing about the trip, was that there is absolutely no animosity between homeopathy and allopathy in India. We were taught by homeopaths and also by a medical doctor, they work together in harmony. It can happen!

In India there is no form of state health system so people have to pay for all treatment themselves whether this is medication, blood tests, scans or surgery. This means they also choose what type of treatment suits them and will pay to see an allopathic doctor, a homeopath or an ayurvedic practitioner. Surgery and biopsies are expensive procedures which are financially out of the question for many people. We saw patients in the clinics from all social backgrounds, from people living in slums to a multi-billionaire shipping magnate. All of them chose homeopathy and use it because they know it works for them.

One of the criticisms levelled against homeopathy in Europe is that we spend so much time listening to patients that they are likely to feel better just because they are having a nice chat and being listened to. In India the patient certainly doesn't get time to chat but the results are still very impressive.

In one slum clinic session we saw 50 patients treated in less than 3 hours! Many of the consulting rooms were far from restful places. Often there were several students observing and a queue of patients waiting to be seen either in the same room or just outside.

Calcutta is a bustling and noisy place but I loved it and had a great time there. The clinics and lecturers were an inspiration and it was a fantastic opportunity to see a huge number of difficult cases successfully treated with homeopathy.

One of our lecturers, Dr Basu, in the consulting room at his home.

Indian Homeopathic Pharmacies

In England there are a handful of specialist homeopathic pharmacies and shops. In India, and especially in Calcutta, that is not the case. There are many, many shops, clinics and pharmacies particularly around BB Ganguly Street. They are always full of people waiting to collect remedies or to see a homeopath.

Just around the corner from the Bengal Allen Institute was the dispensary and offices of the National Homeopathic Pharmacy. It was a fantastic old building with cabinets everywhere full of books, tinctures and remedies. It always seemed very chaotic in there but the system worked and we always got what we had ordered!

Exchange program in Calcutta

In January 2008 I will be attending a homeopathic exchange program in Calcutta at the Bengal Allen Medical Institute. The city has a rich homeopathic heritage and offered the first University and Government approved 5 year full-time homeopathic degree course. The Institute is a registered charity and all profits go towards maintaining a homeopathy clinic in the slums of Calcutta and to providing basic sustenance for hungry children

All across India homeopathy is accepted as being the major alternative to pharmaceutical medicine and is enormously popular, this is mainly due to its low cost and presence in the country for over 150 years.

The exchange programme is run by Dr Subrata Banerjea whose family have been homeopaths as well as medical doctors for four generations. The course is a combination of lectures, homeopathic philosophy, case taking skills, clinical discussion and regular visits to homeopathic clinics, where we will have the opportunity to observe approximately 200 live cases during the programme.

We will also be visiting Darjeeling as a group and seeing patients in a clinic there. After the program finishes I will be spending a few weeks travelling around Kerala in the South before returning home at the end of February.