वैद्य अंतरकर स्मृतिग्रंथ: Vaidya Antarkar Memorial Volume (An Old and Rare Book)

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It was on Wednesday, October 7, 1970, at 2.00 pm, that I first time met Vaidya D.S.Antarkarji at the Diabetes Clinic, Podar Hospital. This was soon after my return from the Yale Medical school. My senior colleague, at Ciba Research Centre, Dr Bal Joshi, Lord Todd's (Nobel Laureate) student had briefed me on the previous day about the clinical screening of Ayurvedic drugs by Antarkarji for hypoglycemic activity at Podar Hospital. The name of the plants Dr.Joshi mentioned excited me - Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia), Daruharidra (Berberis aristata), Karela (Momordica charantia), Shilajeet etc. I felt, after my return from U.S.A., I had now an opportunity for research in Ayurveda with a great teacher and a superb clinician like Vaidya Antarkarji. On the very first meeting I suggested to him the need to do placebo control & the blood sugar estimation at 0, 1, 2 and 3 hours. His ease of acceptance of the suggestion impressed me both with his humility and openness to science.

On the next visit to Podar Hospital, he took me for the ward rounds, as he had learnt that I had been part of Cardiology Clinic at Yale for 3 years. My diary of October 14", 1970 records, how Ayurvedic management of congestive heart failure and cirrhotic ascites was successful. After the rounds, we had discussions on how to correlate the Ayurvedic principles and practice with the modern molecular basis of medicine. Particularly we discussed the role of the ingredients of Shilajeet. That was the beginning of collaborative research partnership of more than 3 decades. Several of the research papers included in this volume witness to the productivity of this collaborative research on medicinal plants.

The present compilation, besides beginning a journey down the memory lane, covers several seeds for major discovery in Ayurveda, based on clinical experience of the Antarkar School. It is also desirable that the clinical skills emphasized by Antarkarji. couple with modern essential investigations, including imaging, are re-emphasized by his lineage at the Ayurvedic colleges and hospitals.

Late Vaidya D S Antarkar's contributions in the field of research, education and clinical services in Ayurveda have left an indelible mark. Innumerable patients have benefited from his clinical skills and wisdom. Antarkarji's unique practical teachings have given confidence to several students to initiate independent clinical practice. His inquisitive mind & in-depth thinking has led to the fruition of many successful research projects. Antarkarji enjoyed respect and support from several eminent scientist, educationist and clinicians due to his quite, cooperative and consistent efforts in handling any scientific, academic or clinical problem. The students and colleagues of Vaidya Antarkar have formed 'Antarkar Memorial Forum' to carry forward the mission of Vaidya Antarkar to propagate 'scientific, rational and evidence based Ayurveda.

First meeting of Antarkar Memorial forum was held on 21st Jan 2005 at Bhavan's SPARC. Juhu, Mumbai, Many students, friends and colleagues of Vaidya Antarkar attended the meeting. Several suggestions came forward regarding activities of the forum. It was unanimously decided to bring out publication in the memory of Late Vaidya Antarkar. In fact Dr.Ashok Vaidya had always expressed the value of preserving the clinical notes of Vaidya Antarkar and a need of compiling his research contribution for the benefit of generations to follow. In this meeting some of the colleagues and students also shared their personal experiences they had with Vaidya Antarkar and felt the need to document his qualities as a person and a physician. All these views and suggestions helped to decide the structure of the publication. This publication has got three main sections. Section 1 deals with the articles based on Antarkarji's clinical notes, section II is the compilation of important published research papers and section III is about write-ups on personal memories of Vaidya Antarkar.

Vaidya B.K.Padhyegurjar, Dr.Rama Vaidya, Dr.S.D.Kamat, Dr.P.S.Tathed, Dr.Narendra Bhatt and I made a joint appeal regarding this publication and could collect Rs. 1 lac 15 thousand through individual contributions. We also received about 45 articles which are part of this publication.

The most challenging work was to collect and collate records of about Twenty thousand patients from Antarkarji's private clinic. Vaidya Neelambari Rane, Vaidya Vibhavari Konkane and Vaidya Abhijit Redij were appointed for this work. All the three took keen interest to accomplish the task. Vaidya Abhijit Redij developed a software programme which enabled to transform data in paper format into electronic format.