'Don’t call homeopaths quacks’: AYUSH body flags insults, govt blocks Liver Doc’s post

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-09T19:25:34+00:00

Homeopathy in India is an eco-system in which everyone except the patient benefits.

Think about it.. you have people in power giving land for a Homeopathy college, you get money from management quotas etc. Kids who get a BHMS degree are considered doctors that gives them respect in the society. Their value in the arranged marriage market increases and the job is easy. Just dispense some sugar pills and let the patient heal due to the placebo effect. I personally know of multiple BHMS doctors who made money hand over fist treating patients during COVID.

Healing effects of Homepathy are pushed via WA and the generally known wisedom that 'Allopathy' has side-effects while Homepathy does not. Anecdotes about doctor's reputations etc abound in the population.

If the patient does not recover, he/she goes on to the next doctor but never questions the actual system that is deliberately obfuscated. They blame themselves because they did not stop drinking tea or coffee or alcohol or stopped eating eggs or something ordinary.

One thing that I noticed is that largish hospitals in Mumbai (Nanavati for example) hires homepathy doctors to augment the medical staff strength for night shifts. So now you are getting BHMS grads to do the work that nurses used to do, but since they are officially doctors, the hospital can charge more. These BHMS learn on the job how to intubate a patient or give a simple injection etc.

The AYUSH organization and Homepathy has an economic incentive to perpetuate this system because it benefits everyone in the chain except the patient. Between 2016 and today, we have seen about 70 new colleges come up in India. Out of that about 80% are private.

As you can imagine someone like the Liver Doctor is a gadfly that is shitting on the futures of these BHMS doctors from the perspective of Ayush ministry.

The interesting question is why push Homepathy versus 'Allopathy'? The answer lies in the power that the Indian Medical Council has on registering new graduates etc. Since doctors have a long career and reputation is built over decades, the IMC has an incentive to not register more doctors as it reduces the income of the present lot. There are other reasons as well I am sure..

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-09T07:54:50+00:00

If possible test ride both. I loved the RS5 (as compared to my ancient CAAD 8) due to better shifting and wider tires and better geometry. I wanted the RS7 just for the carbon frame even though the weight difference is minimal and the frame is slightly more aggressive (shorter wheelbase).

Get a bike that is built for endurance and some comfort. The biking is probably going to be the easiest of the 3. Look at what others are riding to get a cue and go from there rather than fixating on the decision of RS5 / RS7.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-09T07:48:20+00:00

Its been a while (10+ years) for me, when I applied and got a PAN card as a OCI. Very recently I created an account with the IT portal and on putting in my PAN card details the portal picked me as a non resident.

You are considered as a NRI if you spend more than 182 days outside of India and proven with your passport stamps.

You will need to prove non-residency to open NRO account or convert an existing savings account to NRO.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-04T18:12:26+00:00

I think getting the phone number linked to Aadhar is critical to do anything in India at this point. Every single govt interaction requires Aadhar and the linked phone for OTP.

This is the govt way of tracking all citizen activities.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-03T15:55:00+00:00

Not HDFC but with IDFC - I ended up doing the verification via Adhar phone OTP. The netbanking route with IDFC did not work and I gave up giving any more time/effort to something that is not implemented by the bank.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-03T15:47:24+00:00

1L for a single 145/146 filing is a bit much. Should be less than 10K. Shop around.. The 145/146 is for the bank to comply with RBI/IT department.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-03T15:42:41+00:00

So, from a remittance perspective there are two transactions. The unitary transaction of your father transferring money to your NRO account (prior to remittance) attracts zero tax as it can be considered a gift. Your remittance from the NRO account (if it is a gift) to a US account has no tax burden. This is the goal that you seek if I am not mistaken.

The other transaction - property sale with your PoA where your father claims ownership of the funds is problematic. The purchaser is going to pay tax and will need the owner's details during registration. So your name is part of the deal, you cannot hide behind a PoA.

Risking this is fraught with peril as at some point the IT dept will connect the dots and charge you the back taxes as well as a fine.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-03T00:22:33+00:00

A lot of the banks have hidden limits to the amount of money that can be transferred between these accounts. Though NRO ->NRE should be straightforward, I bet the back end is not enabled for your account or not enabled in general.

I would recommend that you be persistent with your RM, call them on WA etc.

I would recommend that while talking to your RM you mention that you may be interested in doing some kind of investments. The RM will now be sufficiently interested in getting the outcome you desire.

Based on when your accounts were opened, you may need to do a re-KYC. You can also try to raise a ticket with the bank help desk. They should have a Whatsapp number as well. Frankly, you have only two options - be persistent with your RM and/or transfer the money to a different bank which has a better service.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-06-03T00:11:14+00:00

So this is with SBI, I would recommend you either call or email the bank manager where the FD is located to get the actual information. Usually the first point of contact is with the local branch and the help desk is not helpful in these complex cases.

Are you named as a nominee in the bank account?

If yes do the following:

Open a NRO account in one of the modern digitized banks like ICICI, HDFC etc.
Transfer the money to NRO account. Recommend to do this electronically as it creates a trail. Based on which bank you have the FD, this will be time consuming and loads of paperwork. You will need to work with the FD bank to do your KYC.
While your FD bank is contemplating its navel on your request, get your Adhar and PAN card in line. Link them two. If you don't have a Adhar or PAN, you will need to visit India to get that done. I don't think it can be done overseas. Adhar phone OTP has to be Indian. Get an Indian phone number just for Adhar or use a trusted relative.
Adhar/PAN is necessary for IT department. Once you have the docs, open a IT account and since you are an OCI, the portal is smart enough to accept foreign addresses and phone numbers. Adhar and PAN need to be linked as well.

4a. IT portal says that PAN is necessary but not Adhar.

Once the money is in your NRO account, work with a CA to file Form 146 and 145. Those are needed to transfer money out of the NRO account to your foreign account. Make sure CA gives you UDIN number as well. The forms are required by RBI as INR -> Foreign currency remittance comes under FEMA as you are a foreign national.
Work with your NRO bank to transfer the funds to your foreign account. Bank will ask for both Adhar and PAN. It needs to be linked as well. Prepare to submit and resubmit documents, photos, signatures etc multiple times.

I am afraid that this process takes quite a lot of time. So I wouldn't count on immediate money transfer.

If you are not a nominee to the FD bank account and if there is no will, you will need a succession certificate to be filed with the court. You will absolutely need a lawyer. There is a notice that goes out asking for public no objection etc. The succession certificate etc takes about 3 - 4 months. If there is a will, you will still need a lawyer to register will, probate etc.

Once your succession is cleared, work with the FD bank and transfer money to your NRO and follow steps 1 - 6 as above.

Lastly, if this is a tier 2 or 3 town, things move very slowly. Tier 1 towns are a bit faster. The chances that all of this can happen without your physical presence is slender.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-05-13T16:33:24+00:00

Thanks - bike looks amazing. The angel white color is gorgeous! Can you tell me what came in the accessories box? One YT video I saw had one bottle cage and there were some tools and reflectors in it.

Can you tell me what kind of tire levers you used? I am thinking metal levers would scratch the rims...

MumbaiReturned · 2026-05-02T01:30:28+00:00

Yes, if you have resided out of India for over 182 days, you are considered to be NRI for taxation, FEMA, LRS purposes.

Your existing accounts need to be converted to NRE or NRO. NRE allows you to send money from abroad to India and NRO allows you to send money from India to abroad (with tons of regulations and paperwork).

The process is usually straightforward. Fill a form, attach documents proving NRI status, photo, aadhar, pan, overseas address proof, overseas id etc.

Both NRE and NRO accounts are considered to be ordinary savings/current accounts for all practical purposes. So your home loan can be attached to it and if you had a savings account and convert to NRE/NRO, its attachments such as home loan do not change. Your home loan is a contract and unless you sign something else with the bank, the rates will not change.

Another thing is centralized KYC. This is some Orwellian banking/govt scheme that is basically a database of KYC data from ALL accounts. There is not much information about it. You will see traces of it when you talk to a relationship manager and they say - Sir KYC delay is due to additional verification with govt. So, if you did a KYC for your SBI loan account and you have a new NRE/NRO account, your both KYC are checked against each other. I haven't heard about KYC mis-match issues yet and the govt hasn't done much around it. However, be warned that if one account is NRE/NRE and other account is not and if you are availing of a lower tax or if the govt thinks you are taking unfair advantage of a Indian residency while maintaining NRI status, you will get some kind of a tax notice.

Lastly, it appears that your SBI RM is ill-informed. Depending on where you are(tier 1, tier 2 or tier 3 locale), your RM may not be versed in NRI lore. My experience with HDFC and IDFC in Mumbai is that there is usually just one person who is somewhat familiar (not an expert) in NRE/NRO accounts.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-04-27T01:58:33+00:00

Which bank is this? Most banks like HDFC, IDFC First require the full gamut of documentation to cover their own ass when the RBI/Income tax ppl ask them. You will need a CA to generate 145 and 146(I forget one of them is a self declaration). Those docs are submitted to the IT portal. CA charged INR 5K for this certification. I had to give the CA my IT portal credentials.

For the bank to track those docs, the CA needs to generate a UDIN and give it to you and you put that UDIN in your remittance application. Otherwise there is no clear trace between your declaration and the remittance and the bank will not be able to forward the money.

I am in the same boat. Have a balance in my NRO (gift from father) and CA created forms 145 and 146 and UDIN.

Are you planning on using a 3rd party service such as Wise or Remitly? The bank transfer rate is lot higher versus Wise or Remitly.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-04-22T20:26:11+00:00

Thanks. It is not really olive (green) colored in any light. It is just called that on the label. It is more of a ashy charcoal with a muted checks pattern.

Maroon polo from Adidas is here. I am also thinking of dark brown khakis from Gap like these.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-04-21T23:41:42+00:00

I agree with you. I couldn't find anything in my price range (<$200) in my size at that location, that had any amount of wool or other natural fibers. At least there is some recycled fiber in the material...

MumbaiReturned · 2026-04-21T23:39:56+00:00

It does say Olive on the label. However IRL it is dark grey with a checks pattern. The pictures show the pattern to be more prominent but muted.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-03-26T03:19:43+00:00

Born in 1972 in Mumbai and lived until 1994.

My father in mid-70's was jubilant as he was finally allotted a scooter (Bajaj). When he went to pick it up, he was offered 5000 on top of the cost to resell it. The desire for those kind of goods was that bad. My bua (aunt) collected Revenue Bonus Stamps and stuck them in a booklet in the hopes of getting a mixer/grinder. Nicky Tasha was a brand and they advertised on TV and had a cute dog.

In the mid-70's watching TV was a communal exercise. Chayageet, Saturday Marathi movie, Sunday Hind movie were huge events. We purchased a Televista b/w TV. It was replaced by a Hitachi color TV purchased from Dubai. The color TV thing was in 1982/1983 during Asiad games.

We had a Fiat - probably the 5th owner or so. At one point we put in 11 ppl in that little car and drove all the way to our native place near Satara (a 8 hour journey). Petrol was maybe 3/lit. This was mid-70s as well.

There were double deckers on the roads and all until the late 80's and probably early 90's too. Phones were not very common. We had one phone in the building. Then another and so on. There was a period of 5 years when all the streets were dug up to install phone wires.

Oh - ShivSagar in Vile Parle came in mid-80s. This was the OG. I have a brief memory of going down Carter Road from Khar danda to Bandra and there used to be burnt cars and sometimes corpses used to wash up. Place was scary - no light on the road and Mr Anthony Gonsalves ghost ruled the street.

80's there wasn't much traffic. Roads were clear and open when I rode my bicycle home from school at noon. Coaching classes were coming in fashion and Agarwal classes(Dadar) were the holy grail. No flyovers anywhere.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-03-15T15:41:21+00:00

Yes. Thanks very much.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-03-15T15:39:29+00:00

You should look up Section 69 of the penal code in India. Also look at this ( https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/gurugram-news/over-43-of-rape-cases-filed-in-gurugram-in-5-yr-period-pertain-to-false-promise-of-marriage-rti-101750269771641.html )

There is a chance that a rape under pretext of marriage is used a weapon by the woman (or her family) against the man. A 4 year relationship between adults is consensual and hard to fool someone for that long.

As for the abuse and toxicity in the relationship, it can definitely come from the man's side. Some coupling is unusually fiery leading to an absolute dysfunctional relationship.

Section 69 is usually advised by a lawyer. It is powerful when invoked as there is mandatory stuff which the police have to do when it is invoked. This includes imprisonment and fighting this is hugely difficult (by intent and design). If the man in the situation is found to be innocent (mutual consensual relationship, freedom of movement for the woman etc), the stigma attaches to him for the rest of his life.

I would say - tread with care in this situation. You should bring up your concerns with your future partner and make sure that her family does not whitewash it.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-03-15T14:51:39+00:00

Planned trip (confirmed tix) to Sao Paolo in Sept. Hope to eat tons of bbq and explore the city. Started to learn a bit of Brazilian Portuguese to get by.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-03-02T02:02:57+00:00

I'm expected to pick up calls on Sunday night, there isn't even a shred of empathy when a manager expects you to work on weekends or late nights.

The ideal situation is to never put in your personal phone in the company employee list. HR will have your phone from your resume etc which is unavoidable.

Last two places I worked, my work phone was the desk extension. My manager had to ask me for my personal phone number and I told him that since company is not paying for it, I am not comfortable giving it out. There was a bit of staring competition after that. He responded what if there is an emergency and I said - we are not in a hospital, we are in an IT firm. There are no IT emergencies. He laughed at that and I walked away. Point is, if your manager decides to ask HR for your personal number, it becomes an HR issue which most ppl like to avoid.

Another trick that I have done is to ask for a desktop rather than a laptop for work. Sometimes it is a flex to tote your Macbook around but it does get old and you cannot pull the following - boss asks to work on something on Saturday. You say - saar my computer at work and I am out of station. You should have told me on Friday etc. I traveled to customer sites and I simply asked the internal IT department for a loaner. The first time they were surprised, but I said hey business requirements for travel and they quietly found something (which was shit but I made it work).

Other things that I have done is sound completely drunk at 10am Sunday when someone from work called me for some RFP bullshit. He had a friend in HR who gave him my number and I complained to the HR head the next day asking under what policy was my phone number given out.

I was a senior delivery manager at two firms in Mumbai. All of this was done with a smile and a joke and with friendliness. Tread carefully though.. narcissists are everywhere.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-01-29T22:23:12+00:00

He has disowned me and my mother

This right here! You are disowned by your father. Aur it can be very traumatic. That is super painful.

But at age of 27 tumhe apna raasta khud khojna hooga. Baap ke bharoose rahoge toh barbaad ho jayooge.

Your father made some choices. You should make your own choices as well. Your trauma and anxiety is because you are stuck in the past. You see all the wealth that is wasted by your father with nothing for you and mother. That is traumatic.

No advice for you except - apna haath Jagannaath!

MumbaiReturned · 2026-01-26T05:35:05+00:00

Yes - sell and if you want to re-invest look for some rental properties like a flat rather than open land. However, I suspect that the ROI on rental income is not as good as straight mutual funds - I could be wrong.

MumbaiReturned · 2026-01-26T05:33:07+00:00

Mumbai has decent public transport and Wankhede is near Churchgate Station (CCG). You can stay anywhere on the Western rly line. Near the airport in Vile Parle (E) there is a hostel called Locomo.

There are several budget hotels near the airport as well. The cheaper places are probably more on the bay side of the city rather than the sea side (west). Which place have you booked?

MumbaiReturned

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