Prescription for a prince from a Delhi native

Ali, the prince’s personal physician, has come down from London as a member of the official delegation. An added incentive: his is the return of the Delhi native. He went to school in Delhi—his mother and one of his five brothers live here—and after a stint at Ramjas College, moved to the Maulana Azad Medical College for a while before leaving for an MD in Moscow.

It was there that he switched tracks after meeting some ‘‘close-door researchers’’ in Russia. ‘‘They were studying alternate medical practices from India and being an Indian I joined them,’’ he recalls. And since this ‘‘conversion,’’ he says, he hasn’t looked back.

He has little reason to. He now runs one of the largest centres of ‘‘integrated medicine’’ in the UK set up in 1998, complete with ayurveda, unani and acupuncture practices. Author of the bestseller Integrated Health Bible, his health column in the Mail on Sunday is read by an estimated 9 million people every week.

Just out of the British High Commissioner’s residence after an hour-long meeting with Prince Charles this evening, he plays the diplomat and the doctor. Ask him about the prince’s health and he declines to comment.

All he says: ‘‘India is a different experience for him though he loves the country and has come over many times. Jet lag, air conditioning and pollution can pose a problem. But the prince eats very healthy food, exercises regularly, rides horses and is quite fit.’’

So no need for the doctor to shadow the patient—he will meet the prince briefly in Jaipur on Saturday before going to the dargah in Ajmer and then leave for London on November 4.

In the meantime, he has to take care of his 25 patients who are visiting India with him. ‘‘I send my doctors to India for training, so that they get to meet experts in alternate medicine. I also come to visit India with my patients every year. Take them to hills in Kangra valley as the therapy includes long walks in hills,’’ he says.

What’s the secret behind Ali’s celebrated prescription? He says it’s a simple philosophy: more than 80% of all ailments can be cured without visiting a doctor. ‘‘The power lies in your own body, you just have to harness it,’’ he says.

That power comes from two ‘‘equal and opposite forces’’ interacting in the body: the positive force which tries to keep you healthy (sanogenetic power) and the one that causes disease (pathogens).

While conventional medicine focuses on developing anti-pathogen treatments, Ali says his therapy strengthens the positive force via some lifestyle changes.

At times, though, he will recommend medicines but always supported by alternative therapy. ‘‘Integrated medicine uses the best of conventional, traditional and alternative approaches integrated together under the supervision of a medically qualified doctor. Only a qualified doctor can do it as it brings in more credibility,’’ he says.

That credibility for Ali has been built over years. After he switched tracks, he specialised in acupuncture and returned to India in 1982. ‘‘I hd a nice clinic in Som Vihar and a good practice and worked mostly with paralysed patients. But one day I found it locked by the resident welfare association saying they don’t want so many paralytic people coming over,’’ he adds.

Disappointed, he left for Bangkok and then ended up in London in 1991. How did he get to meet the prince? It was a chance encounter at a party where he told the prince about his treatment technique. ‘‘I diagnosed one of his staffers whose illness had gone undiagnosed for four months and Prince Charles was convinced,’’ Ali says.

However he’s hopeful of change. ‘‘Now people are beginning to go back to their roots. A lot of centres are coming up. But sadly we needed the West to authenticate our own heritage,’’ says Ali.