Dr. Madan Chand Bhutoria - A Biography
In the year 1933, in the Indian city of Kolkata was born a most ordinary man with an extra ordinary potential, in the name of Madan Chand Bhutoria.
Most of his childhood was spent in Rajasthan. He was born in a very special family which much ahead of their times. The family was much influenced by Gandhiji's freedom movement as well as the Arya Samaj to the extent that his elder brother would make and supply guns to the freedom fighters and he also train them in using the guns. His family was known to have fought against many backward, meaningless and evil practices of those times such as child–marriage, opposition to women’s education, purdah system,etc. All the women of his family went to school and some were even trained in horse riding. When ladies in Rajasthan usually wore the traditional ghagra–choli, his mother was fearless enough to be one of the first ladies in Rajasthan to wear a saree, for which she faced dreadful consequences like being subjected to stone pelting and even ripping the saree apart. For all such bold steps his family also faced stiff opposition from the so called religious organisations of those times. Dr Bhutoria had always been against such organised religious institutions and had said that it is these religious organisations which had staunchly stuck to blind beliefs and superstitious, meaningless rituals thereby tried to impose themselves on the society through ‘moral policing’.
It is said that once his mother and his wife had helped two young saadhvis (jain lady monks) to escape from the traditional Jain monastery and had also hid them in their house for few days. This rebellious act invited the wrath of the religious organisations) and their house was gheraoed by crowds obviously brain washed and this put the entire family’s safety at stake.
His mother was the first lady of her times in Rajasthan who had dared to walk in a ‘chappal’ in front of men. Although it sounds ridiculous today but in those days ladies could only walk barefoot in front of men, even in a hot country like India. But today what we take for granted, many years ago a bold woman had dared to put one leg forward for today’s as simple a demand as wearing a shoe.
Thus began his journey in a family who always choose to tread a different path of revolutionary thinking.
His father too thought differently in the field of Education and perhaps contributed to the ground work for the much different and extra-ordinary mind, that was Dr Madan Chand Bhutoria. He was not sent to school nor allowed to read books till the age of 5 unlike the present fathers who rush for school admissions at early an age as is possible.
He received an education with a difference because by the time he was 12, he had mastered his mother tongue, Hindo(Hindi), and at that young age he had passed exams in Hindi of graduation level of today.He was allowed to study English only in class 7. No wonder his mastery over the subject is undisputable and his Hindi poems speak volumes about the same.
On 27 th November, 1953, he married Kanta Bhutoria of Laadnu , Rajasthan. His marraige like most events in his life, was one with a difference and it had been attended by 10000 villagers of Rajasthan. Marriage vows were taken over the microphone, without the stereotype Agnishakshi. Dowry or other material exchanges were out of question to the extent that no money was spent thousands of at the marriage feast to the guests was given a by) thus breaking all age old traditions set by the society.
About his youth, his neices say that they were the most romantic couple then. They were further blessed with two handsome sons, Arun and Anil Bhutoria.
Dr Madan Chand Bhutoria, like any (other) modern young man of Kolkata , loved watching English films and had a keen interest in classical music, both eastern and western. He had learned to play the flute beautifully all by himself. He was a good artist, fond of sketching . He also took an active interest in all aspects of family life and it is amazing to know that after the birth of his elder son ,it was he who advised his wife about everything about maternal care like what she ought to eat or how she ought to exercise every day.
It is said that he had a special way with the children in his family. He would narrate mythological stories or of even Arabian Nights like Alibaba and Chaalis chor and later delve with them on the deeper meaning of them. Interestingly he would throw insight into the deeper meanings of each story according to the age group and level of understanding of the children.
Professionally, he was a structural engineer, trained in Jute technology and had deep knowledge different kinds of work in factories. At work, he was never (seen to have) been too ambitious and was seen to have been more happy on the days he didn’t need to go to work and would happily spend his time making huge models of cranes with his many sized Mechano sets or chisel a calligraphy pen all by himself. Since he was very fond of machines and tools , he would buy different kinds of machines out of his sheer inquisitiveness to know how they worked.
He was selective even when he bought toys for his children, he would never buy the most advertised or the most colourful or popular ones but those that would teach something to the child.
Till then surely he started treading a different path as was perhaps inevitable.
At the age of 37 he first attended a 10 day Osho meditation camp in Mount Abu during which there were certain times when he was in meditation throughout) the night.
On his return, he came in association with Kishanlaalji, a terapanthi monk in Laadnu, with whom he went deep into an intensive inner search and would again engage in meditation for several days and nights at a stretch.
Gradually, he was so taken into the spiritual journey, that off and on he would leave Calcutta and stay in Burdwan, in his uncle Bachraaj ji Bhutoria’s house and stay alone in a room for days together, deep in Dhyan. He had requested others not to disturb him only cold milk would be placed at the window, for his food.
Thus began the transformation of this simple man , with a childlike simplicity and humility that remained with him till his end. Fast forwading a little , once, recently, while going back from his ashram, one day he was mistakenly locked inside while he was in the wash room. Later when his disciples realized that he was not there they rushed back frantically to the ashram and unlocked it, he was very quietly still standing in the wash room without raising even a small hue and cry as would be expected from others.
Going back again, certain special chapters in his life are worth mentioning while talking about Dr M.C.Bhutoria.
Around the year 1964-65, his foot had got burnt in an accident while working inside the metal foundary.For this he had remained bed-ridden for almost 3 months. Thereafter there remained a small injury in his foot which later invited the dreadful cancer in his body. He was treated by famous doctors of his time .He refused to take a full body anesthesia as that would put his mind to sleep and managed to convince his doctors too about it. He endured a 3 hour operation of his malignant tumour with only that local anesthesia. During the operation he held on so firmly to the doctor’s hand, enduring the pain, that the doctor thought for once that his hand would break.
Thereafter he was given the very painful chemotheray but surprisingly he did not suffer any of the after effects of chemotherapy such as falling hair,etc. The story goes that during this time, his sons knew the personal physician of Dalai lama and called him to treat their father.Through him , the family was invited to meet Dalai Lama for only 10 minutes. During this Dr Bhutoria sat quiet but when he was leaving the Dalai Lama asked him to wait while others went back. They spoke to each other for almost an hour and a half and later he was invited to Mcleodganj to meditate with those special tibetan monks who mostly stayed high up in the himalayan mountains, deep in sadhana throughout the year. Dr Bhutoria stayed with them and was into intense sadhana with them for several months. It is said that when hewent there to meet a certain tibetan monk, he was left alone after a point as nobody dared to go near those spiritually powerful momks. The spiritual leader had come out himself to greet Dr Bhutoria and also later had accompanied him down to his guest house, down below. This went on for several months during which time his family would also come and stay with him at Mcloedganj. During this phase he meditated with the tibetan monk, without knowing each otherslanguage and amazing things would happen to him like his body would take different mudras or his face would change colour, etc. But at the end of it he was completely cured of cancer.
He was interested in spirituality at the young age of 37 and very soon his sons took over his work while he immersed himself in the study of ancient scriptures.
Later, since 1991 onwards his interest went towards study of Accupuncture and Alternative Medicine. He completed his doctor’s degree in Alternative Medicine along with his niece Nirmala Bhutoria. Thereafter together, they went to Mumbai where they practiced alternative medicine and pursued their interests in meditation in their free time.
Since 1993, Dr Saab developed a rare way of diagnosing the patients even if they were not in front of him. It was a unique way of diagnosis without going into expensive medical tests as doctors of today practice. This ability had come naturally to him and he had not practiced any technique to acquire this. Gradually through more meditation, his this talent went on increasing in depth and he would know all the internal problems of the patient by studying their internal energy without touching them. They had together participated in various medical camps in Delhi and elsewhere where patients had queued up in large numbers to get themselves diagnosed.
As their skills improved over the years they also made their own herbal medicines , and started giving it to their patients in times of need .
Gradually the crowds started gathering around them not only for medical reasons but also of those with spiritual interests .
Later Dr. Bhutoria also gave commentaries on ancient scriptures Narad Bhakti sutra, Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, Patanjal Yog Sutra, several of the Vedas from his own ‘gyan’ and not just after reseraching other books on them.
People of various age groups and back grounds would flock to him not only for treatment but also to learn meditation from him, or put forward questions on daily living, personal problems , business advice, or even to locate theives of personal property, to name a few.
He later worked internally to undo the science of yagyas which could solve perenial problems of man. One perenial problem which he himself had faced and perhaps found his own answer was that if we suppress all our desires of life , suppression may lead to various other mental and therefore physical problems and on the other side if we go on to satisfy all our desires we are lost in the way because fullfilment of one will give rise to another? So how to strike a balance between these two situations.
If any man had a special desire which could not be satisfied by the usual desire of money or fame, it could be attained through yagyaas done in a special way with the use of special mantras. He had been experimenting on this till the end.
He also had an expertise in dealing with good or bad spirits and has also cured people possessed of evil spirits, permanently.
He seemed to have a genunine, simple but scientific answer to almost any problem in this world, for his disciples. He would answer questions on relationship, love, the gall bladder or weight loss , the inner meaning of Vedas or be it rape or homosexuality or shooing of evil spirits all with equal ease and from his own gyan.
His eyes always were an epitome of love, yet if one looked at him only from the outside, he was such a commoner that anybody would miss him. And sure enough many did.But in this itself was his greatness,his extraordinariness, to be able to live in simplicity, in the abundance of wealth, both material and spiritual. He had enough reasons to tread the normal path of even the so called God men. He also faced many serious sicknesses in his lifetime such as cancer, tuberculosis, etc thus having to face high obstacles even those set by the society but he did not falter in takong those sure, steady and pure steps towards that ultimate Light, illuminating paths on his way, touching so many lives deeply, in the process untill that final day of 11nth September, 2015, when he breathed his last.
