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| THERAPY TRIP: Dr Prasanta Banerji (right) with son Pratip |
After attending a large medical conference on the agreeable Greek island of Corfu, Dr Prasanta Banerji, 71, and his 40-year-old son, Dr Pratip Banerji, passed through London last week on their way to the US where the two distinguished Calcutta doctors will continue their collaboration with top American research scholars on how homeopathy can help cancer patients.
Was it really true that Dr Banerji?s great-uncle, Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, was so studious but poor that he was forced to do his homework under streetlamps? ?Very true,? said Dr Banerji gravely.
The Banerjis, who appear to have broken through on homeopathic treatment of cancer, are certainly being treated with the utmost respect by fellow researchers at such top cancer research units as the University of Texas MD Cancer Center in Houston, the National Institute of Cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, and the University of Kansas.
They were shocked to discover not everyone shares their concern for alleviating the suffering of the poor. One well-known private London hospital, which wanted Dr Banerji to send them rich patients, was not keen, though, for collaboration.
?How much does it cost to treat your average patient?? Dr Banerji was asked. ??100 ? from start to finish,? he replied. To which the London fat cat said: ?For treating a brain tumour we charge nearer ?100,000. Why should we bother with you??
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| ALL FOR A CAUSE: Aishwarya Rai |
Pushpinder Choudhury, one of the founders of Tongues on Fire, an organisation which “celebrates the achievement of Asian women in film”, has, in the past, managed to get Aparna Sen, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, among others, to come to London for retrospectives of their work, meet informed movie buffs and lead spirited question-and-answer sessions.
The next big name could be Aishwarya Rai, who would be a huge draw. ?We hope to have her over in March next year,? discloses Pushpinder, who says Aishwarya approves of the breast cancer screening charities Tongues on Fire wants to promote in India.
She adds: ?We will be showing her films, including Raincoat.? Aishwarya hasn?t said yes as yet to the invitation but definitely should.
The charity Pushpinder has in mind is called ?Roko? Cancer Appeal, which wants to spend the first tranche of money on a mobile breast screening unit for use in Amritsar ? ?that was where Bride & Prejudice was filmed?.
The chairman of the charity is A.P. (?Pal?) S. Chawla, who told a group of puzzled English people about the significance of the word, Roko: ?Roko means stop in Hindi as in ?stop cancer?.?
Chawla is a mild Sikh gentleman who pops up here and there on the London scene. But then, he suddenly reveals there is personal pain and tragedy, as is often the case, behind his earnest desire to help others.
?I lost my wife Manjit not long ago,? he tells me.
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| BIG READ: Basu?s New World |
One of the great features of Asian life in Britain is the plethora of weekly small-circulation newspapers dotted around the communities. Some people are critical of their production values and standards of journalism but, personally, I have had nothing but admiration for the first-generation Indians and Pakistanis who have kept them alive.
How these publications ever manage to survive I will never know, but they certainly defy the laws of gravity. Perhaps small amounts of advertising from local councils and the odd government body have kept many going for years on end.
One such is the English-language New World, whose ?editor and publisher?, Dhiren Basu, is giving a party on November 15. ?It?s the 15th anniversary of my paper,? he says.
Nor is running the paper his only preoccupation. Dhirenbabu is a loyal Labour Party man who was once Mayor of Haringey Council, his local authority, and still remains one of its elected councillors.
In the country at large, Tony Blair?s stock has plummeted but Dhirenbabu?s support is rock solid. ?One of the highlights of New World was that it was the first paper to recognise Tony Blair?s potential whilst he was shadow home secretary and predict his progression to be the Labour Party leader and Prime Minister,? he explains.
A recent issue of New World ? the masthead proclaims it to be ?the thinking person?s paper? ? has a front page picture of the Prime Minister and a supportive report from Dhirenbabu ?from the press gallery of the Brighton Labour Party conference?.
The Labour Party, Indian and Bengali agenda are not ignored inside with headlines such as Blair Comes Down Hard on Xenophobes, Religious Bigots, Racists and Sexists; India and Indians in Britain Lauded by Labour and Somnath Chatterjee: The Best Prime Minister India Never Had (with an accompanying photograph of ?The Speaker and the Editor?); and More Indian Words in Oxford Dictionary. There is also: Indian Tourism Minister Offers Exotic Attractions in India; M&S Buys Knitwear from India; UK Pathological Tests Outsourcing to India; Indrani Bhattacharjee Sparkles at the Nehru Centre (?New World editor Dhiren Basu was captivated by the enchanting songs of one of Bengal?s supreme artists?); Kolkata School for Lovemaking; Indian Companies in Forbes List; Indian Ambassador Car to be Sold in the UK in Sports Version; and Sri Aurobindo?s Teaching.
It would be easy to be dismissive of such a package but where else would a reader get such a diet of unrelenting good Indian news?
The sudden death has been announced in London of Sir David Gore-Booth, the former British High Commissioner in India. He died, aged 61, of cancer. His main claim to fame is that he held the job that his dad had also done in Delhi.
Sir David quit the Foreign Office five years prematurely after clashing with Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, over the Queen?s controversial visit to India in 1997. The Times?s obit on Sir David says the controversy was not of his making. Though the Indians considered the High Commissioner ?rude and haughty?, the row stemmed from Cook?s misguided attempt to mediate between India and Pakistan.
There is a little mircha in The Times?s appraisal of the Queen?s tour: ?The Duke of Edinburgh made things worse by his correct assertion that the number of deaths in the Amritsar massacre by a British general in 1919 had been greatly exaggerated.?
Many nice things were said about Gurinder Chadha when the director of Bride & Prejudice was guest of honour at a reception held in the House of Commons last week. When she posed for photographs with Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for culture, media and sports, and Baroness Valerie Amos, the leader of the House of Lords and the first black woman to be a member of the Cabinet, the trio were flattered outrageously by Keith Vaz.
?The three most powerful women in Britain,? exclaimed the Labour MP for Leicester East. Among the messages of support for Gurinder was a letter sent by David Beckham, who said his life had been changed by Gurinder?s hit film, Bend It Like Beckham, said to be the most successful wholly British-financed film of all time.
?People expect me to bend the ball into the back of the net overtime and score a goal,? quipped the England football captain.
