Dr Farokh Udwadia assesses the ancient system of medicine while making a plea for better health infrastructure
Farrokh Jijina
Palmists, card readers, practitioners of Unani medicine and ear cleaners professing to cure ailments were encountered by the then young Dr Farokh Udwadia on Elphinstone Bridge while he walked from the railway station to his alma mater, King Edward Memorial Hospital in Parel. When he questioned one of them about the efficacy of his treatments, he was told that to find out he would have to visit the roadside practitioner if he had a earache! The eminent doctor, now a nonagenarian who has written six books, including Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India and Other Essays (see "Health and history,”......