We have lost a friend!
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2002 May / Jun VOL 4 NO 3.
A Tribute by
Dr Satish Gala
On 12th Oct 2002, we lost Dr Anil Bhatia. The world lost a very eminent homoeopath, well respected teacher, educator, leader and colleague, but the whole Homoeopathic fraternity felt they lost a dear friend. That was the charisma and strength of Dr Anil Bhatia: to make every person feel at ease, to take utmost interest in that person and to make him feel very special. His greatest assets were his prodigal memory for names and details about everyone. His humility and his cool temperament endeared him to all.
Dr Anil Bhatia dedicated his entire lifetime for the
upliftment of Homoeopathy as a discipline.
About Him:
Born on 13th May 1942, in Mandvi, Kutch, he completed
his preliminary Homoeopathic education in 1962, Calcutta. The seeds of his
belief in Homoeopathic system of medicine were sown then, but he wanted to learn
more about Homoeopathy as a science. Not withstanding financial and other
difficulties he went to London’s premier Homoeopathic Institute to for further
studies: DF(Hom) Lond. In 1975 he completed MBS Faculty of Homoeopathic
Medicine, Calcutta.
After completing his education he set up his private practice in Calcutta. But
his vision at that young age was to create a uniform educational regulation for
homoeopathic education and a premier homoeopathic institution.
His dedication for Homoeopathy was seen early on when he left a flourishing private practice and the young doctor after obtaining a coveted degree from London, decided to move to Savli, a small village near Baroda as Principal, Homoeopathic College, Savli. (1971-1975). This was The Turning Point in his life: he had found the path to achieve his goals for educational reforms in Homoeopathy.
The Next Step: From 1975- 1986 he was the
Principal of Chandaben Mohanbhai Patel Homoeopathic Medical College, Mumbai.
Under his leadership and interaction with the University of Mumbai, Central
Council of Homoeopathy and much other such organizations, he was able to
introduce the first BHMS course in India, a recognized degree course from
University of Mumbai.
His Other Contributions:
Dr Bhatia made a lot of contributions towards the fields of Education and
Research in Homoeopathy. As a Chairman of Education Committee of Central Council
(CCH) of Homoeopathy, during his tenure, uniform educational regulations for
homoeopathic education were formulated and implemented in universities and
boards of homoeopathy all over the country. Also with his guidance, Post
Graduate Courses in homoeopathic medicine (MD Hom) were introduced for the first
time in the country, in 1989-1990. Over the years, he developed various
homoeopathic colleges and hospitals in accordance to norms laid down by the CCH.
Dr Bhatia held various positions of leadership thorough which
he was able to bring very significant reforms in Homoeopathic education and
research at the national level. He was appointed Honorary Advisor, Homoeopathy,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Member, Governing Body & Scientific
Advisory Committee, Central council for Research in Homoeopathy, Chairman
Academic Committee, National Institute of Homoeopathy
As the Chairman of Homoeopathic Committee for Drugs and Technical Advisory Board
Ministry of Health Govt of India and Chairman Homoeopathic Pharmacoepia
Committee Govt of India, he strived to bring quality control and standardization
in Homoeopathic Therapeutics.
A part of Dr Bhatia’s vision was to bring recognition and
acclaim to the discipline of Homoeopathy around the world. He was selected as
the official delegate by the Govt of India for the International Homoeopathic
Congress at Washington D.C, U.S.A. He attended the conference of Organization of
Homeopathic Medical International in Mexico where he received International
Award of Merit- for his contributions to Homoeopathy.
He was a speaker at the conference of "Liga International Homoeopathic
League" at Seattle. He was also invited as a Guest Lecturer at Dr George
Vithoulkas International School of Homoeopathy Athens, Greece in 1998 and to
School of Homoeopathy, Krakow, Poland in 1999.
Dr Anil Bhatia had a very successful private practice, and his clinical experience stretched over 40 yrs. His ability to listen and understand his patients, his razor sharp clinical acumen, his knowledge of Homoeopathic Philosophy and therapeutics and his transparent honesty in his limitations, won him the trust of hundreds of patients and doctors (both homoeopathic and allopathic) alike. In spite of busy practice, he opted to serve as Honorary Homoeopathic Physician at B N Nanavati Hospital, Mumbai where he would see patients of all strata of society.
As a token of all his achievements, he received the Homeo Dynasty Great Masters award in 1995, and was the recipient of Dr Hahnemann Memorial National Award in 1999.
The complete list of his awards and achievements is too exhaustive to list here, but for Dr Anil Bhatia-the most satisfying and rewarding thing in life was to have been able to give a large part of himself to others- to Homoeopathic education, research, and most of all, to his patients.
