State of the (he)art!
Niikhil Ballal / Juili Kulkarni
Meet Dr Rohit Sane, the founder of Madhavbaug clinics that aim at curing people with Ayurveda. He is one of those few doctors who ask their patients to follow a certain lifestyle so that they don’t have to come to him as patients.In his exclusive interview with KYT, he talks about his beginnings, his global paper presentations,how Ayurveda can be used to treat cardiac patients and his business mantras. Excerpts:
How did you think of the concept of Madhavbaug?
I did my MBBSand was obviously in love with allopathy. During my internship, I developed liking for surgery. When I consulted my father, he advised me to choose Ayurveda. I tried to understand the fundamentals of Ayurveda. While thinking of the options available, I came across the concept of Panchakarma. I tried giving panchakarma therapies to my father’s patients and got to know the power of it. I tried curing the heart patients who used to have breathlessness. I started blending diagnosis of Allopathy and medicines and techniques of Ayurveda. That is how ‘Sampoorna Hriday Shuddhikaraan’ came into being and was copyrighted.
I and my father had the idea of establishing an Ayurvedic village for which we purchased land in Kamshet. We were duped. In 2004, we brought a land in Khopoli. Unfortunately, he passed away the same year. It was a major setback. Then my first challenge was to keep the practice of my father going. By 2005 end, we started constructing for Khopoli’s Ayurvedic village. We inaugurated in January 2006 and named it Madhavbaug after my father, Dr Madhav Sane.
How did you build the network of Madhavbaug?
We knew we have to reach out to people. The reason why Allopathy is popular is because of its reach and standardisation of figures and statistics, which is not the case in Ayurveda. There were no pathological investigations in Ayurveda to standardise the problem. The availability of Ayurvedic medicines is lesser. So we decided to be more available for the people so that they can benefit more out of it.
We have set certain parameters that are considered while giving out a franchisee. Apart from the required educational qualifications, we check if they are aligned with our vision.
What measures have been undertaken to expand Madhavbaug?
I knew the prospective danger zones. If a doctor becomes a businessman, then it is dangerous. There are two streams in Madhavbaug administration – one talks of business development and the other talks of improvement. I always tell my team that if a patient falls in love with the treatment administered by the doctor, he would spend any amount to be treated by him. It also makes us responsible as if someone is in love with our treatment, then it is our responsibility to guide him well. We have our research team that is dedicated towards discovering new therapies and medicines.
You have presented your paper five times on global platforms. How was it received by the audience?
It was for the first time that a paper on Ayurveda was presented on a global platform in a modern medicine convention. When we presented our paper at the highest platform of World Cardiology Congress in Dubai, people had a lot of doubts about my methods. In my speech I made it clear to them that it is a non-conventional method of curing heart ailments and they were more receptive towards this than Indians. They had an open mind and were unbiased. The questions were based on standardisation.
Are your therapies only curative or they can be preventive too?
Generally, Allopathy administers curative medicines only. But in Ayurveda, all those medicines or therapies that are curative are also known to be preventive. However, we have been working in curative sector so much that we haven’t been able to cater to preventive aspect of it. We conduct some workshops and lectures to create awareness. We also conduct a programme called as Hardik and have come up with an app called Save my heart, on which the user can know the risk of heart diseases he is prone to. We send them educational videos about minimising the risk factors.
People nowadays want a fast recovery. Is Ayurveda capable of it?
The mode of administration of medicine decides the duration of effectivity, not whether it is Allopathy or Ayurveda. We are working a lot on easy administration of medicines to beat the typical complicated administration of Ayuredic medicines.We have developed certain methods by which we even discharge a heart patient within a week.
Why do you stress on exercising outside?
When a person is running on the ground, his entire body is aware of the surroundings. His brain is aware. The muscles come into action when you are running on the streets. This helps in increasing the reception of your senses. It also helps in reducing depression. I would suggest, “Enjoy your exercise, because that is the only way of maintaining your interest in it”.
How do you deal with failures or when your image is tarnished?
Whenever the patients are cured, they literally touch the feet of the doctors. I usually tell my team of doctors that whatever success you have got isn’t really yours and neither is the failure. We are fighting a war that we are sure to lose. Some day or the other, the patient is going to die. Though I would have helped him many times, there would be some time when I won’t be able to help.
What do you think about the doctors getting beaten?
Doctor-patient communication is important. It is the root cause. Doctors were as revered as the God and if anyone feels like beating him, the problem is not with the person, it lies in communication. We have a decentralised training for communication in all the centres.
Who are your competitors?
Unawareness and misinformation! We are here to treat patients and anyone doing so is our friend!
What is your business mantra?
Keep the organisation light! More the weight you carry, more difficult it is to walk. That is why we have outsourced a lot of work. Secondly, the owner should be the freest person in the organisation. It is only then possible for him to think of some breakthrough ideas. I should be free while driving! The job of the entrepreneur is to guide people.
