Interview with Ananda Zaren

AH: What was your first experience with homeopathy, how did you get started? 
 Zaren: I took a two week introductory course in 1976 and when the course was over I realized that homeopathy was my life's work. I started to explore, at that time, how I would learn homeopathy. 
 AH: Were you looking for an alternative? 
 Zaren: I was attending births, and was feeling quite tired. However I was not looking for an alternative. 
 AH: It seems that your specialty is obstetrics and gynecology. 
 Zaren: In the past that was true, but I learned a long time ago that one has to have a very strong foundation and know materia medica before one can specialize. 
 AH: After you learned homeopathy, you gave up your practice as a midwife? 
 Zaren: It just seemed to slowly go in the direction of homeopathy. I started to study with George Vithoulkas and this led me in the path of pure
homeopathy. 
 AH: How long did you study with him? 
 Zaren: About eight years. 
 AH: In the United States did you continue to study? 
 Zaren: I studied on my own, saw as many patients as I could, but I did not study with anyone else in the United States or Europe. Too many teachers cause confusion for me. The actual patients were my teachers. In 1987 I was invited to do my first seminar in England, then in Switzerland and it went on from there. 
 AH: Being a homeopath is a big job, it's not just about the practice, once you have an understanding of the system you are automatically put into a teaching position, even to re-educate your patients from the beginning. 
 Zaren: A large part of being a homeopath is patient education. At the end of every consultation I educate the patient. This is very important, because the patient must take responsibility and they need to know what this is all about in order to stay with the process. Sometimes its like explaining the unexplainable. 
 AH: You must be successful because you are invited all over the world. 
 Zaren: I have been studying homeopathy a very long time, and have a great deal of experience, and this must be shared with others. 
 AH: How did you become so involved in Germany? 
 Zaren: It started in July of 1988 when I was invited to give a seminar from cases that I would be taping on video two weeks before the seminar. The seminar was a great success and Toni Drahne, M.D.  invited me back to this same hospital in October of 1988 to do a four month project showing the efficiency of homeopathy and the cost effectiveness. I was placed in the OB/GYN, urology, neonatal, pediatrics section of the hospital. Every case was put on video along with the follow ups. I saw cases I would never see in my own practice and learned a great deal. After that I was invited to do supervisions for homeopaths, which was also a learning experience for me and the students. There were about 40 homeopaths who observed my case taking live through closed circuit television. When I was finished the patient left, and I went into the room where the students were and gave an analysis of the case. The students would share their analysis of the case, and remedy choice, then I told them what came up for me. The patient then would come back every three months for two years. This is one of the best ways for the post-graduate student to learn homeopathy. In fact the next supervision I am doing is in Santa Barbara in March of 1997. 
 AH: How did your methodology develop? 
 Zaren: I saw that I was not getting a success rate in my own practice that was satisfying enough. Maybe the first two months were great, but then the cases relapsed or problems started to occur. I decided to work six days a week seeing patients to get the experience. After many years, and many patients, I realized that every living organism is a functional unit. It is not simply a mechanical sum total of organs or symptoms. Mind and body are not separate or parallel to one another, but constitute a unity. Every moment of our lives, both waking and sleeping, our emotions affect our organs, musculature, and hormonal processes, and visa versa. Every experience we undergo leaves some residue in our bodies, and every unexpressed feeling continues to exist within us. In sum, character and body are fully interdependent. 
 I felt that homeopathy needed to be looked at as being the mind and the body are not separate entities. I felt that the role of emotions in health and illness were discounted. We don't put symptoms together and come up with a remedy that came up the highest. We have to focus the case where the biggest wall or congestion occurs. I realized that to understand and cure such illnesses as heart disease, asthma or arthritis, it is absolutely essential for the homeopath to be familiar with emotions and how they are suppressed or distorted. Studies of organic structures, in terms of symptoms, no matter how thorough, can only provide a partial picture of the dimensions of health or disease. We have to really understand the living organism. Also, the etiology of infectious diseases such as typhoid or tuberculosis was not as simple as it had appeared in the days of Pasteur or Koch; susceptibility to such illnesses was intimately related to the overall emotional-physical health of the individual. It is well known that many people could be exposed and never develop the disease, some persons would succumb very quickly and others would become ill more slowly. We must understand that our basic constitution is really the critical determinant of whether we develop a cold, influenza or other illnesses. This susceptibility encompasses both emotional and physical factors. So, the individual's characteristic emotional state is one determinant of whether microorganisms will multiply or be repelled by the body's natural defenses. I would see from my practice, that anyone who suppresses his or her emotions runs the risk of serious health consequences. Most modern degenerative diseases originate in these long-standing patterns of emotional deadening, which begin to create subtle bodily tensions. The insomnia, tension or depression that results is perhaps eased but not erased by tranquilizers. A heart attack or stroke does not "suddenly happen." Illnesses date far back into one's life where a trauma or trauma's took place. Our dispositions are established during the first few years of life. In infancy and childhood, we form particular ways of reacting (walls) to tension producing situations, and these walls remain deeply embedded in our souls, as well as our physical body. It is really only through homeopathy that such behavioral patterns (walls) can be effectively altered. I have also learned that accumulated emotional suppression contributes in another important way to illness. The heavily walled person is likely to develop a serious disease later in life, through both self-destructive means of coping with chronic pent-up feelings and insensitivity to the body's messages: when to rest, sleep or engage in vigorous exercise. I feel that unless we have vividly experienced a sense of physical well-being, we will not be aware that certain tensions or emotional strains can be triggers to disease. The less able the patient is to "hear" their body's inner voice the greater the likelihood of pushing the body beyond it's optimal limits, creating the potential for illness. 
 I think as homeopaths we must know what health is. The visible signs of health are a relaxed, relatively wall-free musculature, with good posture and muscles capable of alternating tension and relaxation; a warm skin with good turgor, capable of producing warm perspiration; a lively and variable facial expression; and a regular, quiet, strong pulse. Healthy individuals are able to breathe fully and deeply. Their eyes are bright and alert with lively pupillary reactions and their eyeballs are neither protruding nor sunken. Above all, these persons will feel emotionally and physically strong and are able to experience pleasure emotionally without guilt. There are emotional indicators of good health. These include being free from anxiety, the ability to perform work in a satisfying, productive way; and particularly, the capacity for close loving relationships with others: spouse, parents, children and friends. Those patients who for one reason or another are incapable of achieving intimacy with others run a higher probability of eventually developing some form of serious illness. Just because someone is married does not necessarily mean that they are capable of having intimacy. 
 AH: You are a very keen observer, how did you nourish that within yourself? 
 Zaren: I have now been in therapy for the last twenty years. I saw in my own childhood how I was encouraged to live within my mind not my body. I was taught to think, plan, decide, analyze, and to follow through on that mental strategy. I was taught drag your body after you -attend to it only when it complains through sensations of exhaustion, tension, or distress. Otherwise follow your head.. I was taught to succeed, concentrate on your goals. Use your brain and discipline your feelings. Don't expect much pleasure in life; it is just not meant to be. I still have some of this, but I decided a long time ago to focus on my own body. When I started to do homeopathy it was very clear to me, from my own work, that the homeopath must treat the entire personality or character of the patient, and not simply his or her symptom or chief complaint. One of the very important ways to understand the organism is through the body language, and this I learned in my own process. I learned that a homeopath has to see a patient (1) through their physical expression, or body language. We can see a great deal of the patients emotional make up, particularly their unresolved tensions of suppressed feelings; (2) Through certain bodily rigidities, such as a tight jaw, raised shoulders, rigid pelvis, or stiff neck, relate to specific remedies; and (3) That in our society, most patients typically remain unaware of these chronic tensions, which I call their walls, or defenses are greatly resistant to change. 
 I discovered that long drawn out interviews with patients about their childhoods or personal difficulties were really not necessary for an accurate diagnosis or the remedy. The patients own body loudly and clearly discloses basic difficulties, such as the inability to make full emotional contact with others or to completely release longings and pent-up feelings. There are countless minute and subtle ways, the body sends a loud, urgent message to those able to read it. Words can lie. The mode of expression never lies. I think as a homeopath, we must focus on the patients breathing. You will see patients with emotional problems breathe in a shallow, superficial manner. Their breathing is far from regular with numerous spurts and sudden shift in rhythm. General body posture is also a key element in revealing the inner person. If the head is thrust forward or the pelvis pulled back or the legs locked tight at the knees, it tells us a lot about the patients inner problems. If the shoulders are hunched up, it signifies that the person is frightened and ready to ward off an expected attack (stram.). The extent to which an individual moves in a relaxed, straightforward manner or keeps the shoulders erect and balanced with the ground is a measure of a healthy self. Another important indicator of the inner state is vocal quality. All of us respond spontaneously to the sound of others' voices, independent of the specific meaning of their words. I have found that the quality or emotional tone of the voice is often far more important than the patients chief complaint and is a basic indicator of emotional and physical well-being. I could go on and on, but I think you have the idea. 
 AH: Your books are rich with psychological and emotional information. 
 Zaren: As I have said earlier the mind and body are not separate or parallel to on another. In our literature there are many remedies, including the polychrests, where the emotional component is missing and we must understand this. 
 AH: How does spirituality play a part in your practice? 
 Zaren: My spiritual teacher is Sai Baba and I am very devoted to him and his teachings. I do not rely on him to give me the remedy, but my own spiritual teachings have taught me to have love and compassion for others and to keep myself centered. It is through the patient feeling my compassion for them, that helps them feel comfortable in expressing what they need to express and letting their own inner feelings come forward. 
 AH: You deal with many chronic cases, and one of the most difficult aspects of any homeopath is to separate themselves from their patients pain, I'm wondering how you accomplish that? 
 Zaren: I think its important for the patient and yourself to keep a boundary between their material and you. I learned many years ago to do this, as I used to come home in an exhausted state. It is a matter of starting to do this routinely and as time goes on it is effortless. I feel that one should not be distant, but take in what you want to take in and don't take in what you don't want to. It is very hard to come up with the correct remedy, when you merge with the patient, and you should remember it is hindering the homeopathic process, and the patient can feel this. 
 AH: Do you take homeopathic remedies? 
 Zaren: Unfortunately, I went to many very good homeopaths and have never received the correct remedy. 
 AH: It must be disconcerting to see how beautifully the remedies work, and never come to your own constitutional remedy. 
 Zaren: I don't have any problem with that. I am put in a position to help the patient heal, and every day I see many miracles. I have taken other steps to help myself heal. 
 AH: In looking at women in homeopathy, has there ever been one woman who has had an influential impact on your life? 
 Zaren: When I was starting to study homeopathy, there were mostly men, so I never had an opportunity to study with a woman. 
 AH: Do you think that more women should be involved in homeopathy? 
 Zaren: I do. I think women are naturals for this work and usually have a more sensitive approach and many women patients would prefer a female homeopath. 
 AH: How have you found in your own practice that translation from the feeling into literature? 
 Zaren: By not living in my mind when I take a case, by understanding body language, by understanding and feeling the vital force. When we, as a homeopath, can read this, the patient does not have to talk. If we know the patient well enough, we know what is going on without being spoken. However, we must use the repertory to confirm all of our findings. 
 AH: You have done a great job in your books of translating the feelings into words, it must have been difficult. 
 Zaren: As the years are going on, it becomes a little easier. I am also doing a great deal of work on myself, which is imperative in becoming softer and more present for the patient and in writing my books. 
 AH: What has been one of your most significant cases? 
 Zaren: I am very lucky to feel that all of my cases are very significant, and all with a different flavor. One case, however, comes to mind. I was doing a seminar in Munich three years ago. A married couple who were both homeopaths approached me to do their child's' case. She was a three month old infant in the hospital. The infants' mother had seven miscarriages and finally she became pregnant with this child. At five months in utero the baby was born. It was put in a special intensive care unit for these type of high risk infants. By the time I treated this baby, there were two operations that already taken place because of the heart. The baby could not breath on its own, and there was an alarm system as well as a breathing machine attached to the baby and the crib. The baby had to be tube fed. When the mother tried to nurse the baby, the baby would arch its back and refuse the breast milk, with the little strength that it had. The nursing staff asked that the baby not be touched too much, as this burns calories, and the baby cannot afford to burn any calories. The mother put a tape recorder in the crib and the baby often listened to this. The baby had mild hyperbilirunemia at birth, and by the time I saw the baby it was considered autistic. The baby had no eye contact and just stared off into space in a very indifferent dreamlike state. The baby was very pale, with dull eyes and almost appeared lifeless. If the drapes were opened in the room even minimally, the baby would cry. It did not like the sunlight or any other light to touch the eyes. The baby was due to have an operation in three days as the retina had detached from both eyes. I told the parents to give the baby Natrum sulphuricum 200c. The next morning I left to come back to the United States. The next day the remedy was given to the baby, within 30 minutes the baby opened its eyes looking directly into the mothers eyes and making very good contact for about one hour. This did not last as the doctors started to give the baby many painful eye examinations and the baby closed its eyes again. The next day the parents arrived at the hospital and they saw no baby in the crib. They were very upset and a nurse said to them "there was a miracle that happened last night." She said the baby started to breathe on its own and they decided that the baby did not need to have the eye operation. The baby was observed for one week and then was allowed to go home. This was another example of the miracle of what homeopathy can do. 
 AH: Could you tell me a little about your childhood? 
 Zaren: I was born as a twin to a male, and have a brother three years older than myself. A tragedy occurred when I was twelve years old and my mother died. The whole family system changed and I was left alone a great deal, as my father worked a lot. I was not given very much affection and felt very lonely. This is where my own family became dysfunctional and my own wounding took place at this time. My brothers and I were very distant to each other and very little communication took place. I had a great deal of grief, abandonment, and neglect. I truly understand when a patient comes in that has any of that. Fortunately, I knew that something was wrong with me, and I sought out therapy twenty years ago. 
Anne schadde takes a case 
 My observation in my practice has been that as therapists we are only able to carefully observe and understand what is happening in the evolution of an individual person. There is no forecast as to how healing with regard to a family's dynamics should take place. In many cases the family-dynamic actually maintains the patient's illness (see Organon ? 4: (disease cause)). All obstacles to cure must be removed before there is a possibility of cure. 

Interview with Nandita Shah

AH: Nandita, how did you come to practice homeopathy in Bombay?
 Shah: Yes. It is because of homeopathy that I live in Bombay. I feel the only way for me to grow in homeopathy is to practice homeopathy in Bombay. I would love to be in a more rural area, but you can't go to a village and grow in homeopathy because there is no interaction with other homeopaths. I found that the interaction was very important. I've learned a lot from my colleagues.
 AH: Tell me about your colleagues.
 Shah: We try to meet at least once a month. Rajan Sankaran, Sujit Chatterjee, Sunil Anand, Jayesh Shah, and myself. When we all start to think about something together, we have beautiful results. Sometimes we have disasters, but, even so, the thought process is interesting.
 AH: Do you each contribute to the group?

 Shah: Rajan has been an inspiration because he has been a step ahead. But we also do things in our practice which we can report back to the others, it's not just one way, of course. Each of us is a part.
 AH: How does the study group work?
 Shah: Rajan is able to see things deeper than I am able to. But we pick up the ideas quickly and are able to confirm them in our own practice. He couldn't have developed his ideas as well without the confirmation of other people. And we're growing from him, and amongst ourselves. For instance, one of us will take a case and will really understand it, and then we have a meeting and share our cases among the five of us. Very often we solve cases together which we couldn't solve alone.
 AH: How has the study group been helpful to your growth as a homeopath?
 Shah: I think I've learned a lot from them, and their enthusiasm, and the good work has been the inspiration to me to try to do better in my own cases. Every patient requires a certain remedy, and we as homeopaths should be able to find the this remedy, irrespective of the process we use. I think there will be one correct, or most suitable remedy, whichever way you find it -through the understanding of the dreams, the mental state, the physicals, or the gestures -it doesn't matter. It could even be through hair analysis. But we should come to the same remedy ultimately if we are to cure. When we discuss a case together, more and more we can come to a similar remedy. It gives us all confidence that we are working in the right direction. Of course, it doesn't work all the time, but we can aim towards understanding the patient to the point that there is no dispute. We can see a video case, and someone comes up with the remedy, and the rest can say, Oh yes, that's true, because through a well-taken case, you can really understand the central point. And though we still make mistakes, hopefully we will learn from them. You know, initially when you are a homeopath, you have a lot of uncertainties. You prescribe a remedy and you are not sure what will happen. You are waiting for the results. Eventually you know more what to expect. You know what is likely to happen to the patient when you give the remedy. Other colleagues also have study groups of 5 to 10 people -they too are doing provings and consult to together.
 AH: Have you seen changes from this in Bombay?
 Shah: Most definitely. You can feel the change in homeopathy in Bombay. You can see a new direction. Now many people are really enthusiastic about homeopathy. Before, people went to homeopathic colleges so they could practice general medicine when they got out. In my class or Rajan's class, only 10 to 15% did practice homeopathy, after going through the college. Now it's something like 75 to 80%. There's a large rebirth in homeopathy in Bombay, and the whole world, don't you think?
 AH: Tell me something about the way you prescribe. How do you decide what potency to use?
 Shah: It depends on how clearly you see the picture of the remedy in the case. The sharper you see the remedy, the higher the potency. If you can just about see the mental state, as is common in deeper pathologies, then you start with a lower potency. Of course, there are times when I have the remedy only in 30c, so I give it and it works, even when the case is very sharp.
 AH: How long is the interval between follow-up visits for your patients?
 Shah: It depends. Sometimes I have them call that same evening, but usually two weeks, or one month. Most of my patients live nearby. As there are so many homeopaths in Bombay, no one needs to travel far to see a homeopath. What we do usually is spend lot of time on the new case and very little time for the follow-up. Often the follow-ups are just to check that everything is going as expected. I see a follow-up in 5 minutes, 3 minutes, maybe 10 minutes.
 AH: What do you ask in follow-up?
 Shah: We just ask, "How are you?" A patient doesn't need a change of remedy very often, unless of course one hasn't found the right remedy in the first place. It usually takes a long time for the patient's state to change that much. So the follow-up visit is just to check whether the first prescription is correct, whether a repetition is required, or to handle an acute problem.
 AH: Do you always prescribe during the first visit? Do you always know the remedy right away?
 Shah: I try to not prescribe until I feel I really understand the patient, until I know what to give them, because a wrong prescription may add confusion. If I can't do it in the first one and a half or two hours that I interview them, I give them another appointment and I see them again. Once I prescribe, I usually don't change the remedy for a while. But there are still occasions when I'm not sure of the prescription I give to the patient.
 AH: For follow-ups do you give placebo?
 Shah: Yes, it's very common. Our way of practice is totally different than what you see in the west because most of the patients don't know much about homeopathy, nor do they care to know. They just know sometimes that it doesn't have the side effects that allopathy has. We tell them not to take any other medicine when they are being treated homeopathically, but if they were given only a single dose and no placebo, they may not be aware that they are under treatment and may take medicines for acutes, for instance. So placebo is something to keep them aware that they are under treatment. And if they have a headache and you don't want to prescribe for the acute disease, it is very easy to say, "Put some pills in water," or "take an extra dose of your medicine." Then they feel they've done something, and you're not pressured to give them medicine for all their complaints, because they feel they are already taking something. I feel it works very well in India. It's also our method of payment. We don't charge by appointment. We charge by the number of days we are giving medicine for. And if we see a patient for 5 minutes or 25 minutes, we still charge the same. They don't feel they have more right to your time, either, because they will be paying the same amount if they stay for 5 minutes or 25. You can spend with them the time they need. I personally like to have little check on my patients more often and not spend too much time with it. So I am happy with this method.
 AH: There is a movement on in the United States for homeopathic education of the patient, how do you feel about this?
 Shah: I don't feel it is helpful for a person to read his remedy without understanding homeopathy. When I treat a colleague, I don't always tell him the remedy. How does it help to know what the remedy is? In fact, I think it could prejudice the patient. The patient comes to us for treatment, and we are doing an honest job of treatment. Placebo never hurts anybody, and if it can help, why should you feel guilty about giving placebo. I cannot understand this. I feel if it can help, then there is nothing wrong with it, and I find it definitely helps my patients. Because it's a form of reassurance. If they have some problem, they take some placebo, they feel they are on some medicine, and don't have to go for the pain killer. Very often when I am weaning my patients off pain killers or palliative allopathic drugs, I give them placebo and it works very well. If you feel that something is wrong, it becomes wrong, but if you really don't feel that it is wrong, you can go ahead and do it. There are some people you can tell their remedy to. It depends on the patient and his level of understanding of homeopathy.
 AH: Tell me about your assistants.
 Shah: They are new homeopaths. They are students who have passed their college exams and who have begun their practice. Maybe they practice in the evening and sit in with me in the morning. Or vice versa. They work with me for a whole year. They see all the patients and follow-ups for one year. They see one new case every day. The assistants see all the cases. So they know what to expect. Some of my assistants are really great homeopaths, and I refer my patients to them if they live closer to one of my assistants.
 AH: Do you feel it affects your case taking to have your assistant in the room when you take the case?
 Shah: A few patients won't open up as much. It's always nice to have a break without the assistant, because then some patients do feel freer. It does slightly affect case taking, but I also feel that when we have someone watching over what we do, we are more cautious about every step we take. So it also improves our own practice. There are good and bad things about it.
 AH: You don't feel that you ever miss a case because of the presence of the assistant?
 Shah: No, I take the liberty of sending my assistant out for a few patients here and there.
 AH: Do you feel you have to change your case-taking in any way when your assistant is present?
 Shah: Not really. My assistants don't participate in the case-taking until the end. Then if they have something to ask, they may. Most patients are quite OK when they know this is an assistant .
 AH: Do you ask the patient's permission for the assistant to sit in before hand?
 Shah: No. When you don't make an issue of it, they don't think about it either. Occasionally someone will ask to speak to me alone.
 AH: Are there pros and cons to having students sit in on your clinic?
 Shah: How are people going to learn without sitting in? How would students learn to do an operation without watching? It is not possible. How will you train other good homeopaths? I feel it has also helped me, because it has made me conscious of everything I do in practice. I have to have a reason for it. Sometimes I might prescribe, saying probably this is going to work, or I feel it's right. But with the student's watching, you have to have a reason. Every time you do something, it makes things clearer for you too. I'm very comfortable with it. In fact, I think it can bring out the best in me.
 AH: Do you do other teaching in India?
 Shah: I haven't taught in a formal way in the college, because I just can't go twice a week -it's too far. The students have a kind of union where they invite people to give lectures on Saturdays or Sundays. So I go then, speak, and show cases.
 AH: Do you have any hobbies?
 Shah: I have a lot of other interests. But there is very little time. I wish I had time for some fine art. Pottery and painting are things I would really like to do. I love to learn languages. I am learning Italian right now on the side and I studied French earlier.
 AH: How will you apply your new use of the Italian language?
 Shah: It's just something I really enjoy. When you read a book in French, it's totally different from how a book would be written in English, so you get a totally different outlook on another culture and you can get that only really through the language. I love traveling, and seeing different cultures. Italy is a country I love, and as most Italians don't speak English, I decided to learn it. I would like also to learn German but fortunately most Germans speak English so it can wait.
 AH: What else interests you?
 Shah: I like to garden organically. Ideally I would like to live in a rural area, and live a more natural life. Isn't it ironic that we are advocating a system of healing based on nature's laws, but everything else we are doing is against nature's laws!
 AH: Organic gardening in India is not common!
 Shah: It's getting more popular than it was before. There are a few health food stores, and people are growing things without chemicals. It's becoming more popular, but the Indian farmers feel as the Indian patients do: any medicine is good. The farmers feel that any pesticides can only do good, so sometimes they use much more than they should. The awareness is coming and it's good. Organic gardening is just beginning on a mass scale, because people are realizing they can get more money for the produce.
 In 1985, I read a book called The One Straw Revolution and what really struck me is that the author, Masanobu Fukuoka, was writing about agriculture, but his philosophy was the same as our homeopathic philosophy. While I was reading this book I felt I could have been reading a book of homeopathy. He called his method of farming, "do-nothing farming." He said that man is always trying to do more and more, but is causing, through his efforts, his own destruction. You can see this in general in the world today. It looks like we have made a lot of progress, but in actuality life has become more and more stressful. To summarize his views on farming: he says that plowing the fields (done to aerate the soil) destroys the microorganisms in the soil, that would have naturally aerated the soil. But not only do the microorganisms aerate the soil, they also fertilize it naturally. Plowed soil needs fertilizer. When plants grow on fertilizers instead of natural nutrients, they are more vulnerable to disease. That's why we need pesticides and herbicides. And plants brought up this way are not only harmful to us, but lack flavor, and nutrients. As a result, we add vitamins to our diet and so the chain goes on... Crops should be grown intermingled with one another, as they occur in nature, so they have a symbiotic relationship with the soil and its nutrients. The soil doesn't get depleted of any one mineral, and they are not easy prey to pests which multiply very fast in a field which contains solely their favorite food. But man makes everything more complicated through modern methods of farming. In fact, natural farming is also more economical because although something may be lost to pests, and the fact that harvesting is more labor intensive, there is still substantial savings on fertilizers pesticide, herbicides, etc. In terms of man, to use an analogy, fertilizers are similar to vitamins, required when we switch to an unnatural diet of chemically processed foods. This weakens our immune response, and to counteract that, we use vaccinations and antibiotics, similar to the herbicides and pesticides used on plants. But are we really getting anywhere?
 AH: This "more is better" is the philosophy of allopathy.
 Shah: Yes, but it is also the way we homeopaths see the world. I think it's the basic quality of man as opposed to the rest of nature. I remember many years ago I was walking with Jeremy Sherr, and I said the basic problem of India is the population, that maybe compulsory family planning as in China would be the solution. Jeremy said, "But reproduction is natural. The solution must lie somewhere else." A couple of years later, I went to Senegal, and I found the answer. Senegal is a small country with not a very high population, but it seemed that 90% of the population was young. There must be at least 10 kids to every adult.
 Northern Senegal is desert, and Southern, on the border of tropical rain forest. All over Senegal are projects for safe drinking water, medical aid, road building, development in various ways. These are undertaken by western countries as aid. But the Senegalese, who are basically village people, don't even know what to do with themselves in the city and there are plenty of beggars. They are basically rural people. Then we went off the only road that encircles the country into a village in the interior, where the western influence was just beginning to reach. (They had just been gifted a machine to polish rice!). There the population (child to adult ratio) was normal. The people were happy, smiling. Three French-speaking boys who had returned from a city school took us around their village. They did not practice agriculture but they had the sweetest mangoes and pineapples we ever tasted. They would kill a monkey or wild boar whenever they needed food and the forest was filled with gourds, and yams and other edible vegetables that could be found by a brief search. Every evening they made merry with music and dance and all their needs were met by the environment. This was in contrast with the rural communities accessible from the roads. These were acres of barren land -the villagers had been taught agriculture through various projects, and they needed it to feed their multitudes -the gift of modern medicine -but they had no concept of this and so they would move from one plot of forest land to another, cutting down the trees, but not having the skills to keep the land from erosion and barrenness after. Another reminder of the way we humans destroy ourselves with our greed for more. In a few years this country, facing rapid desertification, will be struck by drought and famine -which it never knew before. I think we have to think of ways to go back to nature, and we, as homeopaths, need to work in this direction too, because medicine only cannot cure the sickness of this world. We need to look for homoeopathic solutions for the non-medical problems too. There have been many situations in my life where I have done things in an allopathic way. We try to solve the problem by opposing it. For instance, once my father was very depressed and his house was also looking very broken down. So I thought the way to help him get out of this depression would be to fix up his house. He moved into the last room while the rest of the house was being renovated. And when it was finished, he stayed in the last room. I realized then what an allopathic method I had used to help him get better. Before he had a reason to feel depressed. Now he had no reason, and was still depressed.
 AH: You would like to be an organic farmer?
 Shah: I would like to live in a place where I could be more in tune with nature in every way. I am far from that now. I live in Bombay. I've been thinking about moving for a long time. I feel that if you are a homeopath, then you need to look at other aspects of life which have to do with health. I feel that you have to include everything, that is, things that are for healthful living. I think and hope the whole world is slowly moving in this direction, at least beginning to think about it, because there is a limit to what materialism can bring you. When you get saturated with materialism, you have to go back to the other side. Someone has to begin. This is something that I would really like to do.
 AH: The draw to a more natural life is becoming more attractive to many.
 Shah: This reminds me of an article I read called "The Farmer and the Industrialist." There was a very poor farmer living in an underdeveloped country. The sun was hot and he had worked hard in the fields all morning. So after a hearty lunch he took a little nap in the shade of the old tree. To this underdeveloped country came a very rich industrialist from a technologically advanced country to establish whether it would be worth his while to invest a huge sum of money in some industry. After driving several miserable hours in the hot sun, he saw the poor farmer asleep under the shade of the old tree, and it was just too much for him to bear. "Stop the car," he shouted to the driver and stormed across the road as fast as his heart condition would allow, and woke up the poor farmer by shouting, "What do you think you are doing?" "I was taking a nap in the shade of this old tree," replied the farmer as politely as he could, thinking it was quite obvious. "Don't you know there is work to be done?" "I've been working all morning..." But the industrialist stormed, "If you people were to get a hold of yourselves and change your ways, work harder and longer you might be able to save money and invest it in a profitable business, branch out, install a plant, automation, get your capital back, buy out your competitors and climb to the top." "What I would do then, sir?" said the perplexed farmer. "Do?" shouted the industrialist. "Why, you could delegate responsibility to subordinates, relax for a change. Live on the income, with a house in the country; good food, pretty girls. Soak up a little sunshine." "Sir, my house is already in the country; the food cooked by my mother is the envy of every woman in the district; my sweetheart prettier than any girl I've seen; and was I not asleep in the sunshine when you awoke me?"
 Nandita Shah
 22 Matru Chhaya, 70 Marine Dr
 Mumbai 400020
 India
 Tel 2064949
 Fax 3680414
 email - nanditagiasbm01. vsnl. net. in

The dueties of the physician from a woman's view

We are learning that plant-remedy patients, like plants themselves, are often very sensitive to stimulation from sound, smell, temperature and touch -it has even been proven that plants are also sensitive to human feelings. It is interesting to note that most of the remedies mentioned in this article about delicate sensitivities are plant remedies. 
 Considering the fact that most of your patients will be women, it may be well to mention some of the things that irritate and annoy a nervous woman and often result in a change of doctors, to the surprise of the doctor first called. If you are guilty of any of the peculiarities mentioned, let us hope you will promptly reform. A patient has a hard Bryonia headache, every sound causes an agony of throbbing pain in the back of the head; the doctor comes up the stairs with a pair of heavy shoes that squeak at every step; the patient vows then and there that never again will she call that doctor. 

 Another instance of the carelessness of the doctor was shown in the case of a patient that had been sick two months, unable to leave her bed, extremely sensitive to touch. The doctor picked up a newspaper that was on the table and when he was finished looking at it tossed it lightly on the abdomen of the patient. She saw it coming and screamed at the same time placing both hands over the body to protect herself from what to her was a dreadful blow. She said to the doctor: "Don't ever do that again, you nearly killed me." The doctor laughed in his pleasant way and said: "Oh! that's nonsense" but the patient had no sleep that night and was much worse the next day. 
 A doctor may throw away his cigar or put his pipe in his pocket before going to the patient's room, but her Ipecac headache is much aggravated by the smell of dead tobacco smoke and she says to her aunt: "Don't let that man in here again when I have one of these headaches or I shall be sick all over the bed." 
 A patient telling the doctor about her aches and pains, and how hard her head aches when she has to walk in the open air, is interrupted by the doctor telling of a headache he has just had with the aggravation from going into a heated room, concluding with the remark that the patient has her room too warm and it would be better to let in a little fresh air. The patient is not interested in her doctor's symptoms nor his headaches; she wishes to tell her symptoms and not be compelled to listen to his, and what is more she had a Nux headache and needed the hot room to ameliorate the pain and his suggestion that the window should be opened to let in a little fresh air only made her mad after the manner of a Nux patient. The doctor's personal affairs, especially his symptoms, are of absolutely no interest to a patient; she waits with a thinly veiled impatience for him to finish, thinking all the time how sick she feels and hoping he will soon give her something to make her feel better. 
 A rocking chair has been productive of much nausea and vertigo by the doctor's rocking back and forth without thought of the effect it would have on his patient. The patient feels as though she were in a boat on very rough water and with every rock back and forth she grows worse, and hurries the telling of her symptoms to get through with the doctor and the rocking chair. When the doctor makes his next call at that house a straight chair will be placed for him. A patient's bed may be so situated that it faces a window. 
 It may be necessary for the doctor to raise the shade to see the patient's face, but he should not let it fly up with a click such as would startle a well person and he should lower that curtain or see that it is lowered before leaving the room, as the mother or sister may leave the room with the doctor to talk over the patient with him and the patient is facing that bright light with nerve-quivering pain in the eyeballs growing rapidly worse, unable to raise herself from the bed and it may be two hours before anyone has time to run up stairs to the patient's room to see if she is comfortable and to pull down that shade. Sometimes the doctor cracks his finger joints in an absentminded manner while listening to his patient, or he will have a little rubber band which he will snap at regular intervals and these things nearly bring a nervous patient to her feet at every crack of the finger joints or every snap of the rubber band. One patient expressed it, "Every snap of that rubber band seemed to hit me right in the back of the head." I have noticed that some of the students of this college have acquired the rubber band habit. 
 A profane man can have no more idea of the sentiments of a gentle, highly religious woman than can a lobster. -J. T. Kent 
 Dissolving a powder in a glass of water need not be made a torture to the patient by the doctor's stirring that powder round in the glass, hitting the side of the glass with the spoon at every round, until the patient is threatening with vertigo; this may sound like an extreme case of nervousness, but she is only a sensitive woman. Let the doctor turn away from the bed to do his mixing so that the patient in her highly wrought nervous state does not find it necessary to watch his every movement. 
 You will often be asked to say what foods should be given the patient. Because one likes milk is no reason why all patients should thrive on that food; milk is to some patients the most nauseating food that can be mentioned, and to insist that all patients will get well faster on a milk diet than on any other food is foolish and sometimes a cruelty. Mutton broth may be a delicious diet to one, and to another quite the reverse, and this will apply to almost every article of diet usually recommended for the sick. The homoeopathic physician makes use of the desires and aversions, the aggravations and ameliorations, as a basis for the curative remedy. The old adage that "What is one's meat is another's poison," is based upon the universal law of similars. In acute disease the language of the patient for acids, pungent things, sweets and water are to be gratified. In chronic diseases the longings of the patient are to be restrained; in the latter, longings for tea, coffee, pungent things, acids, beer, wine and alcoholic stimulants are symptoms of great importance, often furnishing valuable aid to the discovery of the needed medicine. In a chronic sickness when the patient takes coffee and tea, though he does not long for them and could easily give them up, it is not so important that he discontinue their use unless the remedy selected for him is antidoted by tea or coffee. When he longs for these substances and feels that he cannot do without them, they are acting with him as a stimulant, or as a crutch, and will in most cases prevent symptoms from manifesting themselves as an index to the remedy he requires. We know that hard drinkers crave their whiskey, and old coffee drinkers declare they cannot do without their coffee, and so it is with all habituated beverages. As long as these longings are supplied, no benefit need be expected from treatment. It is true that patients often become miserable when discontinuing their beverages, and at such times the physician can be of the greatest service; the selected remedy will now take the place of his crutch and correct his morbid desires. What the patient shall eat and what he shall drink must be selected with due regard to the remedy he is taking and his own constitutional demands; this will become more important to you after you have sufficiently observed the wonderful powers of medicines upon the sick. 
 When your patient is under the influence of either Carbo vegetabilis or Pulsatilla you will learn not to be surprised if the stomach becomes wonderfully disordered after eating fats or greasy, rich food; when your patient has been many days under Bryonia, Lycopodium, or Petroleum, and she comes in and complains of an unusually disordered stomach, you may often hit the nail on the head by saying: "You must have been eating cabbage." Those who have been drinking coffee a long time without any disturbance or wakeful nights will report to you that your medicine has caused them much disturbance of the nervous system, and they come in to ask about it: you look up the record and find you have given them Chamomilla or Nux vomica and will be compelled to request your patient to discontinue coffee at once. Coffee must never be used when Chamomilla or Nux vomica is the remedy. It would be equally true if you were treating a nervous paralytic with Causticum. Again it is often very important to warn patients against indulging in cold or frozen foods after giving Arsenic, Lycopodium, Nux vomica, Rhus t. or Pulsatilla. It is well to warn patients under the influence of Thuja to avoid onions and fats, or when under the influence of Lycopodium to avoid oysters for a while. You should not be surprised when patients tell you that they have suddenly become disturbed from drinking milk if under the influence of Calcarea, Nitric acid, or Sepia -and be sure to warn patients under the influence of Antimonium carb to avoid sour things, vinegar and sour wine. Be sure to tell mothers whose children are under the influence of Ignatia or Argentum nitricum to keep candy away from them, or you will have disordered stomach and diarrhoea to contend with which may interfere with the management of deeper seated troubles. Be not surprised if the patient under the influence of Ipecac or Kali nitricum should become distressingly sick with nausea and diarrhoea from eating veal. Occasionally you will meet with over-sensitive women who get all sorts of complaints, headache, anxiety, heat and other nervous phenomena from eating and drinking warm food; they want most things cool; it is well to bear this in mind when patients are under the influence of Lachesis, Phosphorous, or Pulsatilla. All these phases regarding food and drink are idiosyncrasies; from traditional medicine these have received no sympathy; they have been called nervous, finical and even at times hysterical or whimsical, but it should be remembered that idiosyncrasies are only states of susceptibility, and without susceptibility there could be no Homoeopathy. The relation of similitude between a homoeopathic remedy and the patient might be called idiosyncrasy or homoeopathicity; the study of idiosyncrasies is only the study of the degrees of similitude varying in intensity in accordance with the tension or relaxation in different constitutions. Despise not the small things because they often furnish the deciding features between convulsions, and the life of a woman is made of small things. These patients are women; many of these patients are very sensitive women; if you succeed with them they will continue as your patients and introduce to you increasing opportunities for usefulness; all sensitive women have been buffeted by traditional medicine, and when once they find a homoeopathic physician that fully appreciates woman's sensitivity to indicated medicines, to kind and prudent attention, to honorable sympathy, they become supporters of Homoeopathy because it is the first medical counsel in the history of the world that has ever given them physical tranquillity. 
 The doctor must sometimes seek information of the most secret character to fill out the contour of the sick image, but never to burden himself with secrets, and hence it is wise to parry all that cannot be used for the good of the patient. The prudent doctor will never talk about his patients, or their complaints, or his wonderful cures. I once heard a man say about a doctor whom he had just consulted "I would not call that doctor to my family, he talks too much about his patients." To attend to all business promptly, politely, earnestly, quietly, patiently, and with dignity should be the doctor's endeavor; for him to do more would be extraordinary, unexpected, useless and often mischievous. 
 In managing nervous women it is often necessary to answer them evasively. They frequently ask the doctor, "Am I hysterical?" to which it would be well for the doctor to answer, "Scarcely that, but your nerves are in a fret." It is quite true that she knows she is hysterical and that the doctor thinks so, but if he admits it he will offend or at least interfere with his own government. This woman must be given latitude, and as long as the doctor has not called her hysterical she will proceed to reveal symptoms of far greater expression, she will use the freedom given her until her symptoms fully represent the nature of her sickness. This patient must never be reprimanded or restrained until everything in the nature of her case has been revealed, which may require many visits as she will cross and re-cross her statements, some of which are true and some imaginary. The course to be pursued when the time has arrived for treatment cannot be predicted during the series of examinations. 
 Let me say a few words about your attitude toward your patient's household. You will often be invited to stay and dine, or you will be given a lunch at midnight when called to an all night case, and one of the ladies of the family will remain with you at table to see that you are well served. If after stirring the sugar in your tea or coffee you leave the spoon in that cup instead of placing it on the saucer where it belongs, and the maid hits that teaspoon while waiting on the table, the fluid in the cup will be spilled all over the tablecloth or on the dining room rug, to your great mortification and the vexation of your hostess. While in camp last summer, our guide gave us an example of the disagreeable use that may be made of a knife. It is almost incredible that even long practice should have enabled him to load that knife from the tip to the handle and carry the food to his mouth. We had forks, good ones, too, but he preferred the knife. He spoiled many a meal for me until I learned to take my share and sit behind him or turn my back to the fire. When we go north next summer we will not employ that guide. 
 A lady of prominence and unusual refinement once said she wished she could find a physician who could prescribe as well as her old doctor, as she would be glad to make a change. She was satisfied with his prescribing but his personal habits were so objectionable. Upon inquiry it was revealed that while taking an evening luncheon at her house he had picked his teeth with a toothpick while at her table. This woman was willing to put up with moderate prescribing if she could only find a gentleman. Much is said to the children of a family about wiping their feet on the door mat, placed there for that purpose. One little boy on being reprimanded more severely than usual said: "I just saw the doctor walk right in without wiping his feet and he made tracks as big as a bear all over the hall and all the way up stair." For this offense a doctor need not be surprised if he forfeit the family to a more thoughtful competitor. 
 A good woman desires to be secure against the misapprehensions of her doctor. Let her say what she may and keep her at ease so she may be free to express her inmost feelings without fear of being misunderstood. A woman expects that her doctor will listen to her symptoms, no matter how whimsical, with a reverential respect. Do not force her to mask her symptoms by cramping her speech, which she will always do if she cannot repose full confidence in her doctor. Let the doctor jestingly turn her careless word into the borderland of Rome and forever after he may guess at her symptoms until, failing to cure, he finds a more sincere man, and likely a less skillful physician, in charge of the family. If the discharged physician ever hears a reason for it, it will most likely be that "he was too coarse." 
 One of the poorest prescribers may secure a large business if he is happy and cheerful in the sick room without overdoing it, and firm without brusqueness, commanding without being over-bearing, sympathetic to the extent of kindly thoughtfulness, and yielding when principle is not involved. How much better should the physician do who joins the skill with tact! 
 If the young physician has learned the science and art of healing he may acquire tact by taking lessons from his wife, who should be able to see how much he lacks of being a well-rounded figure in his chosen profession. 
 The Dunham may train you in the science, but a woman can teach you to grow increasingly useful and commanding among the figures that move in the world of science, art and society. Neglect neither opportunity, partnership nor tact, and the doctor may become a friend, adviser, and citizen in this country and his departure cause a lamentation to be long maintained. 
 (As taken from the Journal of Homeopathics Volume 5, 1901.) In 1901, Clara Louise Kent, MD, lived in Chicago with her husband, James Tyler Kent, MD.