Kameshwar Prasad Brahmacharya meets patients at midnight in his clinic at the Lashkariganj area at Sasaram in Rohtas. Picture by Amit Bhelari

When the world goes to sleep, an 80-year-old doctor opens his clinic at a non-descript village at Sasaram. For the rest of the night, he writes prescriptions for at least 300 patients.

Homoeopath Kameshwar Prasad Brahmacharya has been running his night clinic at Lashkariganj for over 50 years. Not only his ways of life are strange, his clinic, too, has a surreal look. It has furniture that are at least five decades old, an oil lamp being the only source of light in the room, a rickety wooden chair that his father once used and walls with signs of cracks and devoid of any paint. Apart from the identity of his patients and the stock of medicines, nothing has changed in the clinic in all these days.

Another thing that has not changed is the number of patients. About 300 patients from various parts of the country visit his clinic everyday. A few even come from abroad.

Ask Brahmacharya why he treats his patients only at night, pat comes the reply: “I am comfortable doing so. It’s a habit of over 50 years.”

Besides his unusual timing of treating patients, his food habit is equally strange. “I only have milk and products made of milk, particularly rasgullas. I have been on this diet for many years. My food habit and staying awake at night have not affected my health in any way.”

Though he obtained a bachelor’s degree in homeopathy from Sinha Homoeopathic Medical College in Darbhanga district in the 1950s, he started treating patients from 1947.

When The Telegraph visited his Lashkariganj clinic, patients were waiting in a long queue at his clinic. Inside, Brahmacharya attended one patient after another. “Nobody should leave my clinic with queries. So I take a lot of time to attend to them,” he said.

The clinic closes only in the morning after all the patients have been attended to.

R.K. Pandey, a resident of Golachani locality in the town and a chemistry teacher, said: “I was suffering from sciatica for many years. I consulted many doctors and went to a number of hospitals. But my problem persisted. I went to Kameshwarji after one of my friends told me about him. That was three months ago. Ever since I started taking medicines prescribed by him, I am much better.”

Ajay Kumar Shrivastava, who came all the way from Kanpur for his son’s treatment, said: “My son could not hear in his left ear. After consulting Brahmacharya, things have started improving. I am grateful to him.”

Sita Ram Tiwari, the assistant of Brahmacharya, said: “Many patients come from the US and France. Some of them come twice a year to take medicines.” Though he gets patients from various parts of the country and even abroad, Brahmacharya has not gone out of Sasaram in the past 20 years. “My life is confined to my home and clinic. Both my sons practice homoeopathy outside the state, but I have rarely gone out,” he said.