Dr. Banshi Saboo: the Diabetologist Superhero with a Warm Kind Heart!
This story will take you back in time when simplicity was the way of life, humility was respected and people walked through their life dreaming big, and chased their aspiration with all their heart. With us today, we have Dr. Banshi Saboo, a renowned identity in the field of diabetology, whose life mirrors those times to a “T”. He is a perfect mold of aspiration, inspiration, humility and philanthropy with a die-hard will to strive for self-growth. Dr. Banshi Saboo is Chief Diabetologist and Chairman of Diabetes Care and Hormone Clinic at Ahmedabad. He initiated the “Diabetes Care India” foundation to educate and spread awareness of Diabetes in India. He holds PhD in Phenotyping & Genotyping diabetes in the younger generation of India. This is a front row seat of an amazing journey of humble beginnings and small-town boy making it big in life at its finest.
You hail from a very humble background. How was it growing up in a village to being a student of science in a big city?
I was born in a small village, Kuchamal, close to Ajmer and was a part of a ratpack of 10 siblings. I guess birth-control was not a word introduced in any Indian’s dictionary back then (laugs). School for me was a makeshift classroom under a Banyan tree. Watch any Bollywood classic and you’ll know how my village school actuall was! Basic alphabets in English language were introduced to us in class 6. Being a vernacular student, I had to double my efforts in learning English during my college term. I remember vividly picking up “Hindustan Patrika and Hindustan Times”in the evenings as they would cost lesser at the end of the day. I would read a single article in both newspapers to sharpen my vocabulary. Alas all these years have honed my grammar, but nothing helped me change my dialect!! It is very interesting to note that students like myself always outshone others in college as we had this crazed desire towards knowledge and being proficient at what we learn. My college life was peppered with bullying and teasing the “village simpleton” who couldn’t spell to save his life. My name unfortunately resonated with every side-hero in all hindi movies (especially all servant were Ramu and Banshi), which was another reason to be ridiculed. But my steely resolve to excel in science pushed me to come out as an achiever throughout my college years.
You seem to be inspired by the Indian cinema.
I believe every person’s journey of life is a drama in its own right. We have our highs and lows, our achievements and struggles to speak about. Rather than speaking of our life as a stale old man’s tale if we add some “masala” into it I think we ourselves would love to reminisce every part of it, and eventually be proud of who we are! Now there’s a spiritual life-hack for assured happiness!
What instilled in you the desire to become a doctor?
When I was young, people used to look up to a doctor with respect and admiration. When I was around 5-6 years old, I was bit by a dog and had to take injections to prevent rabies. I got wind of a girl in my vicinity who had been bitten by a dog but died due to lack of medical care. It was horrifying! I realised the potential magic in medicine that can cure the sick and heal the injured. Both these triggers inspired me to study medicine.
Every hero has a guru who teaches him the ropes. Who was the Gandhi-bapu to your Munnabhai?
Post MBBS, I was embroiled in a legal battle. I was fighting against discrimination towards students who hailed from other states and were treated unfairly in the admission process for post-graduation. Mr. Prakash Thakkar, the lawyer who won me that court case proved to be a god-send to me. It was because of him that I got a seat in the post-graduate course. My Nirupa Roy (quintessential Maa) is Dr. Asha, I fondly call her “Asha ben”. She has held a multidimensional mother/elder sister role in my life. Even today we are in touch and meet up every 15 days.
Any setbacks that you think chiseled your tough as nails approach?
My father underwent a CABG when I was in the second year of my MBBS. He was later admitted to a psychiatric ward and I eventually lost him to renal failure. This was a huge punch in the gut to me. I wanted to study further after MBBS, but did not have the finances to travel abroad. Our family survived on my father’s savings back then. I was newly married as well. I had to do odd jobs to support my family and aid in getting food on the table. Life was throwing curve balls at me, but I made sure they did not deter me from my love of science and medicine. I knew I had to hang on and fight to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
How were the early days when you started your own clinic?
I started my practice in October, 1997. I started with diabetes management initially and had just a trickle of clientele. I started taking patients for infection check-ups, ECG, etc just to keep my practice floating. This got me more exposure, patients and a practice that was booming. There I was initially with my foot solely in diabetes and then managed to delve into internal medicine to carve a niche for myself! Life, is a funny teacher; asks you to study for a math test and gives you a paper of literature to solve instead!
Apart from your ever-expanding clinical practice, you have been at the forefront of philanthropy through medicine.
My go to mantra is “Kisi ke majboori se paise mat kamao”. I started the “Diacare Trust”for Type 1 diabetic patients who could not afford the expensive medical care. I have Type 1 patients, who lost their original jobs, working at my clinic. This way I created a compassionate ecosystem of diabetic patients caring for their own kind. I would urge people who could afford the fees to deposit them at a medical store; this money was then utilized to purchase medicines and insulin for those who couldn’t afford. Very soon “LIFEFORCHILD” and “CDIC” extended support in providing insulin to those in need. I did diabetes-care camps in Kutch, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Baroda, Surat and even South Rajasthan. I even managed to establish “Juvenile Foundation” and ran it in the name of “Diacare Trust” and even invited Pharma companies to donate funds. I am trying my best to come up with solutions to aid the patients who do not have the resources to tide an expensive disease like Diabetes.
What is the need of the hour, for the doctors today?
“I believe a doctor should:
- Definitely, practice as a clinician
- Educate other doctors and
- Learn, implement and evolve in neo medicine.
Moreover, clinicians should indulge in prospective and retrospective research. Publishing “real-world” data is what keeps the science alive! Ayurveda could not flourish as a medical art because evidential data was not being published for recent works in that field. Doctors need to be adept in the latest advancement of medicine, in theory and in practice. They need to be systematic is collection and publishing any observations made during their practice. This will help in pragmatic growth of the medical community.
Looking back, which incident warms the corners of your heart?
Our maid has been in our family since a long time. I saw her child reading newspaper one day. “I wish to study”, he said. Looking at his keenness for knowledge, I provided him with books and paid his fees through college. I am proud to say that today he is a teacher in a higher secondary school. Working for my trust always keeps me grounded and close to my roots. We try go beyond medical care for Type 1 diabetic patients other than medicine, like getting jobs, arranging their marriage, procuring funds for kids’ education among other things. Looking at the gamut of work we put in to try and give them a semblance of normalcy always puts a smile on my face and contentment in my heart.
How do you manage to put up with all these facets of your profession on a day to day grind?
People themselves are my source of energy. I feed on their appreciation, which motivates me to get up and try to think for more better ways to see satisfaction in their lives.
It is amazing how a “gaon ka bhola”, who has touched hundreds of lives through his practice, still has the scent of humility reminisce of the soil from his village, roots and beliefs as simple yet strong as the banyan tree in his school. You sir, for sure are a superstar in the cinema of life!!