“I always look upon Dr. Bhau Daji as a man who has done excellent work in his life—and though he has written little, the little he has written is worth thousands of pages written by others.”
– Max Müller
Bhau Daji was born in 1822 in Manjare Goa. His actual name was Ramkrishna Lad but his father affectionately called him ‘Bhau’. Bhau’s father in 1832 planned to move to Bombay, an upcoming centre for trade and learning. Though he had to struggle to make ends meet he was gifted with his bright son Bhau.
Bhau proved to be an excellent learner since childhood, his brilliance was seen in chess which attracted the attention of the then Governor of bombay, Earl of Clair who recognized the efforts of Bhau and urged his father to provide english education to him.
The Grant Medical College was established in 1845. This was the time when it was very difficult to get Hindu students for an english medical system as it required dissection of human cadavers which was forbidden by societal norms.
Nevertheless, Bhau bravely came forward and sat for the entrance test and topped the exam. In April 1851 Bhau successfully completed the course and became one of the first eight students to be awarded the degree of Graduate of the Grant Medical College.
Bhau’s writings on female infanticide gives us an insight about his interest in the various social evils prevailing at that time. He attended the first widow remarriage that took place in Mumbai in 1869. He was a philanthropist who believed in the power of knowledge and donated many books to the library movement of the Bombay presidency.
Bhau Daji had a keen interest in the ancient Indian system of medicine and had a profound knowledge of the old scriptures which made him search for remedies of diseases. leprosy was a deadly disease prevalent during that time, Bhau wasted no time and conducted his research on the disease and developed a ‘Bhau Daji Method of treatment for Leprosy’.
