Your meals are mostly in the hospital?
Yes, home-cooked vegetarian food, had in my office or in the theatre where I perform angioplasties and do angiograms.

You are vegetarian because of medical reasons?
No, conventionally mine is a vegetarian family. Vegetarian food is definitely healthier. But, I eat chicken outside in restaurants.

What�s lunch like?
I am a light eater. I either send most of the food back or my assistants have it. I survive on a good breakfast. Cornflakes, cereals, toast, boiled eggs without the yolks, fruits, and tea.

What�s your working day like?
I begin at 9 and am there at the Bombay Hospital till 6. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I do angiograms and angioplasties. I average 140 a month, of which one-third are angioplasties. Between 6 and 9, I am at my consulting room seeing patients.

Where do you get your energy from?
I am a happy man, no worries and anxieties, no animosity towards anybody. God is kind, I put my head on the pillow and go to sleep. I can attend distress calls at night, go out on emergencies, then come back and go to sleep immediately!

Do you workout as well?
Five days a week, I swim for 45 minutes, brisk walk for 30, or go on the treadmill for 20. That�s it.

Do you drink at all?
Socially, half a peg of whisky or a small glass of red wine which I have the entire evening! I don�t eat at 99 per cent of the parties I go to.

Is red wine good for the heart?
Yes, it has antioxidants, but in small quantities. Drink lots, and you are also consuming the calories! France and Germany are neighbours, the French drink wine and the Germans beer, but look at how low the incidence of coronary heart disease is in France! That�s because of the wine!

Is the world slowly turning vegetarian?
Yes, and it should turn faster! Vegetarian food is better. So many diseases can be avoided by not eating red meat.

What kind of food do you eat when you go abroad?
Vegetarian, naturally. An Indian vegetarian meal is even available on most international flights. And all western countries have good Indian restaurants. Besides, we Indians always know somebody or the other when we travel, so we eat with them or stay with them. Vegetarian food is not a problem abroad.

Has food ever been a problem for you?
When I was a student 35 years ago in England. I used to cook omelettes in my room because restaurants were costly and vegetarian food was out of the question. It meant boiled potato, fruit and bread! Now, I am told, even the student doctors� dining mess has two Indian meals a week!