[00:00:01 – 00:00:11] Nitin Bajaj

Welcome to the industry show. I’m your host, Nitin Bajaj. And joining me today is Dr. Bharat Patel. Dr. Patel, welcome on the show and thank you for having us here.

[00:00:11 – 00:00:17] Bharat Patel

Thank you, Nitin. I’m very glad that you all are in my home and we’ll be talking about some good stuff.

[00:00:17 – 00:00:28] Nitin Bajaj

Yes. And this is version two. It took a few years to get. You back on, but here we are. So let’s start with who is Bharat?

[00:00:30 – 00:00:51] Bharat Patel

A lot of time I wonder about that, but I’m figuring it out. I have a shape, size, and form. You know, I’m 77 years old, and my life has gone through several decades, and each one I have been doing different activities, and I’m very happy where I am right now.

[00:00:52 – 00:00:56] Nitin Bajaj

So you’re technically 77, but at heart, I know you’re seven.

[00:00:57 – 00:01:02] Bharat Patel

Yeah. No, the girls will not accept that. So at heart, I am 16.

[00:01:04 – 00:01:06] Nitin Bajaj

Or 26. When you have to be legal.

[00:01:06 – 00:01:06] Bharat Patel

Right.

[00:01:09 – 00:01:14] Nitin Bajaj

You do so many different things, but I think the one that’s closest to. Your heart is Alapio.

[00:01:17 – 00:01:39] Bharat Patel

Yes, that really, Closest to my heart. And, you know, last time we talked about, you told me that I am this, this, this, and what would I be known as? And I said, I want to be known as a comedian. But I change now. I think when I go away, I want to be remembered as a guy who did free surgeries. I think that’s more profound, more effective, and that will give me more satisfaction. Yeah.

[00:01:39 – 00:01:48] Nitin Bajaj

And you created tremendous impact in the past few years. Tell us more about Alapio. Tell us more about the work you’ve done.

[00:01:48 – 00:03:01] Bharat Patel

Alapio is like Association of Los Angeles Physician of Indian origin. We break it down. It’s an association, but it’s nothing. Indian origin, we take anybody. We have Jewish, we have Chinese, we have Bangladeshi doctors, Iranian doctors, you know, and we started it about 11 years ago. Last week was 11th anniversary. Thank you. And, you know, everything comes out of what was going on before that. There was an association in Los Angeles, and it was good. They were meeting for parties and, you know, medical talks and all that. But I was not satisfied. I said, we are all Indian doctors, smart, capable, intelligent, rich. But as a group, we don’t have any impact on the society here. And this is the society who made us who we are today. So I tried to change that old association, but it didn’t work because, you know, Indians are. When there is politics, you know, they don’t give up their turf.

[00:03:01 – 00:03:02] Nitin Bajaj

Yes.

[00:03:02 – 00:07:50] Bharat Patel

So instead of fighting with them, I just decided that I open my own Group. And I had some supporters, Dr. Bose and Dr. Assembal. And they all encouraged me that just let’s do something good. So we started Alapio and we were doing monthly medical meetings. And then I had some experience with show business. I was a president of BJ Medical College Alumni association in 1999. And that time I did one show called Kumar Sanu. I was not into Bollywood music at that time. So after I signed up with Kumar Sanu, I asked somebody, who is this guy? What are his songs? So I bought cassette and put it in my car and we did his show in Long Beach Terrace Theater. And it was very good experience because I learned the celebrities how to deal with them. I’ll give you an example. I hope Kumar Sanu will not mind that. So being my first show, I wanted to be nice to him. I said, he should be in great mood so he can perform well tonight. So I picked him up on the airport, took him to Hyatt Hotel, went home. And then I called a massage agency. I said, can you send somebody to give a massage to Kumar Sanu so he’s relaxed? So they said sure. So they sent a girl to his. Room and in 10 minutes he called me. I said, so I asked that girl that, do you have any man in your company? She says, no. So I said, I told may I apologize. I tried to do good but didn’t work. But that was a very successful show, fundraising, all that. We raised $100,000 profit. And since then I got this disease. Of doing the shows. And I tell people that when people give me money for Alapio and charity, I want to give something good back to them. Not just thank you or some food in a paper plate or something. So that’s why I do these shows. And every show I have done, I have made money, which is rare. People were skeptical. ALAPIO Dr. In our meeting he said, bharat, you are taking a big commitment. You know, at that time, 30,000 to Kumar Sanu and another 40,000 for auditorium. So I told them that Alapya makes money, you all will be happy. If it loses money, I will give my own money. So there was no. It was a win win situation. So. And we get a lot of volunteers. And since then I never look back. All the big stars like singers and performers like Arijit Singh, Rahat Fate Ali Khan, Shreya Ghoshal, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt. I met her one time, I was doing her show and she said, uncle when did you come to America? So I said, long before you were born. I developed very friendly relationship with them. Salman Khan, everybody comes to her picture. I stand up on the side. Salman Khan always used to tell everybody that this doctor ko photo khichane ka bahut shauk hai. So what happened is whenever I go to Mumbai, I now meet all of these people. I make appointments, I go take them out for dinner, lunch. It’s a good experience. I did pritam in 2017. Was sold out. And I think that was the best show I ever did. Music wise and light and audio and everything. So last December, I was in Mumbai and I always meet Pritam. So he took me to his Yasaraj studio. It’s a huge audio building. You won’t even believe it. That kind of building is not even here. And he had 30 people waiting for me in the front gate. Welcome, Dr. Patel. Everybody said. And Pritam told all of them that this is the best person I meet in the United States. So then he took me inside and he says, I’m going to make your visit worthwhile. So he gave me a small tour. And then he said, have you heard that song Kesariya? I said, yeah, he’s right now number one song. We’re gonna make that song from the scratch for you all over again. 300 instruments. He has kept everybody ready there for me.

[00:07:50 – 00:07:50] Nitin Bajaj

That is so cool.

[00:07:50 – 00:08:18] Bharat Patel

And finally they did it. And he says, let’s listen to the final product. And amazing Kesaria song. Then he took me to a Bengali restaurant there. And after that he asked me, you want to join me for a shooting of a movie called Life in Metro Part 2? And stupid me, I said, no, I am very busy. I saw the movie three days back here. Out of this World movie. You all should see Life in the Metro Part 2.

[00:08:18 – 00:08:19] Nitin Bajaj

I remember the first one.

[00:08:19 – 00:08:36] Bharat Patel

Yeah. Amazing, Amazing Love story. Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta. Sara Ali Khan, Aditya Roy Kapoor. Pritam is in the movie too. Oh really? Yeah. They put him on rooftops and road and he’s just playing guitar and singing. This is like a Broadway musical.

[00:08:37 – 00:08:39] Nitin Bajaj

Interesting. So this is.

[00:08:39 – 00:12:06] Bharat Patel

See, we transgressed from Alapio to show business. But the money we raised from Alapio, from the beginning, the first show was Shreya Ghoshal. I went on the stage. I didn’t know how am I going to do it. But I announced to the public that whatever money we raised, we’re going to use it for free clinics. At that time, surgery was not in my mind. So then I have a clinic and I connected with this Restonek clinic. And I Told them that you can send your patients to my clinic. And I have specialist and myself urologist. We will see all the patients. So we started seeing free patients and then some of them needed surgery. So I bought a surgical center, not for that, but for myself in Beverly Hills. And that’s where we started doing pre surgeries for last 10 years, done about 800 free surgeries. And we do all kinds of surgeries which can be done as an outpatient. Gallbladder, urinary bladder, hernias, knee arthroscopy, endoscopy, colonoscopy. And this surgery, we electronic people will check out the patient. So nobody will take advantage of her. They really deserve it. They don’t have assets, they don’t have money. Some of them I think ICE not gonna like it, but some of them don’t even have papers. And I took care of them because they look like you and me, right? So if ICE agents come to get me, you know, for treating illegals, you know, protect me. So we started doing that and more and more doctors joined us. And it’s still going on. So I sold my surgical center two years back and now we built a new surgical center in Orange County Surgical center. And starting 18th of July, we’re going to start doing surgeries. And we will provide patients, we will provide doctors and more and more over and above that, I committed to donate. $1 million from surgery center is maintained. That’s the more important thing, right? They have to pay the salaries and this and that. And this pritam show is all about that. Whatever money we will make, it will be for that surgery center. Now, I firmly believe that I don’t need to go to temples. I don’t need to go to Chino Hills or Malibu to pray to the God that take me to heaven. My way to heaven is already made. Yes. I always tell people that help all of you and we’ll make sure you go to heaven when the time comes. So that that’s my story. And in between, what else I do, I do this investment. That’s my passion. You know, I started investment clubs 20 years ago. Closed one this another one going on for 13. It’s called Money Management Club. And I don’t take any money from this. No commission, no nothing. It’s just we pull money from people. We invest in stock market, but mainly it’s for education. Stock market and economic and financial education. And along the way, always have made money. Yeah. And I think we get a lot of ideas from different people, like different doctors, professionals, people like you so. Social. Club, educational club, and we make money in the.

[00:12:06 – 00:12:06] Nitin Bajaj

Why not?

[00:12:06 – 00:12:10] Bharat Patel

Yeah. What else I do in my life?

[00:12:10 – 00:12:11] Nitin Bajaj

Well, your standup comedy.

[00:12:11 – 00:12:19] Bharat Patel

Let’s see now I’m forgetting that. That I was a very serious guy. When I was in India.

[00:12:19 – 00:12:20] Nitin Bajaj

I can’t believe that.

[00:12:20 – 00:13:46] Bharat Patel

Yeah, nobody, even in my home. One day, my father had invited some guests, and I. I’m so shy that I. I stay behind the door and look through the cracks. What’s going on? Who is talking? So one of my father’s friends got me out from the back and said, bharat, if you want to be good in life, if you want to be something in your life, speak up. Come in front of people. And something went to me that day that I should. And when I came to America, I was talking to people like this in small parties. And I said, whenever I talk, they laugh. So then I organized my thoughts. And the first comedy I did was in a camp in Santa Barbara. 50 people were around the campfire, and I did my first comedy for 30 minutes in Gujarati. And, you know, some of the material, I got it from Shahabuddin Rathore. He is my idol. And in English comedy, my idol is Larry David. Larry David is amazing. He made the Seinfeld. So I did comedy mainly for charities. You know, if somebody has a party or a fundraising or a wedding, I prepare. I work hard on it, you know, for a week or 10 days. For that particular party, you have to know your audience. You cannot just prepare some material and blast it to any audience.

[00:13:46 – 00:13:47] Nitin Bajaj

So it has to connect.

[00:13:47 – 00:14:07] Bharat Patel

I always find out that who is the audience. And talking about audience, you know, I have graded audience according to who will laugh the best. So white people who are drinking, they are the best. They laugh like crazy. And sometimes even before the next joke.

[00:14:07 – 00:14:09] Nitin Bajaj

Starts, they start laughing in anticipation.

[00:14:09 – 00:14:32] Bharat Patel

Yeah. And they always. They appreciate you also. They come dark, you amazing. You gave me a belly ache. And the Filipinos are the neck. They laugh a lot. Hispanics also. The worst people to make them laugh are Indians. You have to have a very sharp punchline, otherwise they don’t laugh.

[00:14:33 – 00:14:37] Nitin Bajaj

But I’ve only seen you make Indians laugh. So I have to see what.

[00:14:37 – 00:16:28] Bharat Patel

What you do to others. I figured out now what makes Indian laugh. And. But, you know, when Indians don’t laugh, you know that the guy is sitting beside his wife. Wife says, how do you know that? This is my experience. But to give you some example, lately I have been doing a lot of birthdays, elderly people’s birthdays. So I tell them that, you know, there are Some advantages of being old, first of all kidnappers have no interest in you. Second thing in hostage situation you will be released first. And don’t worry about telling your secrets to your friends because most of them don’t remember anyway. But when you are old you have to eat. Don’t eat organic food, you need all the preservatives you can get. But lot of elderly people, you know they. One guy told me that when I was in my hostel there was a man’s hostel and a woman’s hostel, boys and girls. So a lot of time there was intermingling, you know, they were going from one hostel to another. So the administrator called a meeting that this is not going to happen anymore. Violation. First violation will be 100 rupees fine. Second 203rd violation, thousand rupees fine. So I raised my hand, I said how about the season pass? So I now have no problem. You know a lot of people catch me by surprise that Farad bhai, let’s do some comment. So I have all these things in.

[00:16:28 – 00:16:28] Nitin Bajaj

My mind now.

[00:16:30 – 00:18:01] Bharat Patel

And it’s fun. But every month I have one or two places I have to go and do comedy. I was in Atlanta last two weeks back and 1500 Gujarati doctor convention. And I did a 15 minute of comedy. And that’s the only time people didn’t talk. Otherwise the big convention people keep on talking, somebody giving speech. I get the kick out of it. My best and the most common, like everybody knows this joke but I have to tell it. I always tell them coming to this party or coming to this convention. I was in a limousine and right near the gate I saw a homeless man and my heart goes out for it. So I stopped my limousine, got out of the limousine and went to the homeless guy, put my hand in the pocket, there was a hundred dollar bill. So I wanted to be careful. I asked him that with this money are you going to drink alcohol? He says I never drink alcohol. Are you going to gamble? He says I never gamble. Are you going to use it for women of ill repute? And he says I never do that. I said you don’t do all those things. Come with me, come with me to this 1500 doctors who are smart, intelligent, rich, capable. Let me show it to them. What happens to somebody who don’t drink, gamble and do women people compliment me? I like your hundred dollar joke. I like your homeless joke.

[00:18:05 – 00:18:20] Nitin Bajaj

As you’re doing a lot of these things and enjoying and making people happy, helping people get the medical care they need, what is the one big challenge you face.

[00:18:22 – 00:20:29] Bharat Patel

Though. I never think that life is a challenge. Really. Nothing bothers me. As, for example, you know, I never get sad or upset in a funeral. I’m sitting there, I’m thinking about funeral jokes. So challenge comes and I solve them and I move on. Nothing is like big challenge. You know, money was a. Initially I thought money, but then money comes. All of you have run our big bank balance and we keep on raising money. So people wise, there are no challenges, you know, for good things, people volunteer, patients are there always. And we have a waiting list of thousand patients for surgery right now because we had a gap. We’re going to start from 18th of July. Challenge was, you know, my wife passed away. And at that time, I slowed down one year. I was depressed and all that, but people supported me and I’m back to. I bounced back. Yes. And I talk about her now without tears. She helped me a lot. We were together for. We were married 48 years, but we were dating eight years before that in India. In India, to hold an open hand is a crime, Right. And we were caught kissing in a public park. So the policeman asked me to stand up and do this thing 10 times. We were together, we got married, came to New York for training and went to Georgia for medical practice first because I wanted to make a lot of money. New York City, they won’t give you much money. But in five years in Georgia, I’m sorry to say, but we found out the real face of the South. So we came back to Los Angeles. We didn’t come back. We moved to Los Angeles without knowing anybody. Here in Georgia, they were nice people. So they say, why you go, bj, you know, we will double your money you make. And I said, jim, it’s not money.

[00:20:29 – 00:20:31] Nitin Bajaj

I’m homesick.

[00:20:31 – 00:20:46] Bharat Patel

My family is in Los Angeles. I had actually nobody in Los Angeles. And we moved here, stayed in a hotel. From there, I used to go to work. Then we opened our own office, me and my wife. And there was nothing to look back 40 years. I’m here now.

[00:20:47 – 00:20:52] Nitin Bajaj

Wow. And you’ve not just been here, you created tremendous impact.

[00:20:53 – 00:20:54] Bharat Patel

Yeah, I know.

[00:20:54 – 00:20:54] Nitin Bajaj

That’s amazing.

[00:20:54 – 00:20:58] Bharat Patel

I cannot go any other place than Los Angeles now. This is my world.

[00:20:58 – 00:20:59] Nitin Bajaj

Yeah.

[00:20:59 – 00:21:00] Bharat Patel

And why would you.

[00:21:00 – 00:21:01] Nitin Bajaj

Beautiful place to be.

[00:21:01 – 00:21:16] Bharat Patel

And we’re glad you’re here. Some of my doctor friends from east coast particularly, they retire and move to Florida. I say, how can you dismantle your 50 years of life and go somewhere? And I can’t do that now.

[00:21:16 – 00:21:23] Nitin Bajaj

On the flip side of challenges lie opportunities. What’s the one that you’re most excited about.

[00:21:27 – 00:22:26] Bharat Patel

The most exciting day in my life is the day when I do peer surgery. Yes. Yeah. I’m like a little baby. I’m talking to everybody, going here, getting food for everybody. I take pictures, post on the Facebook right away. Those are the exciting things in life. My grandchildren are another excitement. And they come and stay here, sleepover and I go to pool with them. Now they talk. My grandson asked me one day that you don’t work, how you gonna get food? So I said, I saved some money and that’s what I’m doing. So he says, be careful. One day we were in a restaurant and I have credit card. He says, how long this credit card will last? I said, don’t worry, you know, I will be gone, but the credit card will still work. They are becoming good people. My granddaughter knows everything about these pre surgeries and all that. And she said, dada, you are doing good.

[00:22:26 – 00:22:27] Nitin Bajaj

That’s amazing.

[00:22:27 – 00:22:33] Bharat Patel

Yeah. One thing we forgot to talk about. My latest passion is poker.

[00:22:33 – 00:22:34] Nitin Bajaj

Oh yeah, that’s right.

[00:22:34 – 00:22:58] Bharat Patel

Yeah. Most of the time I spend nowadays is playing poker. I go to Orange county once a month. I play here every Monday, I play in Orange county and every night I play online with friends only. I’m getting better and better and I think it’s a great game. If you play poker, you will never get Alzheimer’s.

[00:22:59 – 00:22:59] Nitin Bajaj

That’s true.

[00:22:59 – 00:23:06] Bharat Patel

Your mind is working, you are calculating, you are thinking. So I think I’ll continue to do that.

[00:23:08 – 00:23:27] Nitin Bajaj

Now I would love for us to go back in time and for you to share two moments from your life. One where things did not work out as you had expected. There was maybe failure, disappointment and some lessons that came out of it.

[00:23:30 – 00:24:21] Bharat Patel

Quite a, not two, quite a few times I thought, you know, I failed, but I bounced back. Couple of incidents were like when my brother died, you know, I was very devastated older brother when my wife passed away. But financially, your academically or business wise, I never had a big failure. So that didn’t bother me. I never had to declare bankruptcy so far. That’s a good thing, right? Yeah. Otherwise. But yeah, those are the things. And exciting. The couple of most exciting moments in my life was when my daughter was born. I still remember. And the third thing, when my first so successful Priyan was on. So.

[00:24:24 – 00:24:24] Nitin Bajaj

Very nice.

[00:24:24 – 00:24:32] Bharat Patel

But otherwise every week I get excited. I am always looking forward. In the morning I get up, you know, it’s a positive thing.

[00:24:32 – 00:24:39] Nitin Bajaj

So now on to my favorite part of the show. I would love for you to share some One Line Life Lessons with us.

[00:24:40 – 00:27:42] Bharat Patel

Yeah. Number one is live as if today is the last day of your life, you know. Second thing is, don’t be bothered by small things. Like if I have a spot on my jacket that don’t bother me, my personality speaks much higher than that spot. The third thing is don’t be in a rat race with other people. You know, don’t be a FOMO rat race because after all it’s a race and you are a rat. So that’s my lesson. Last thing is I always tell people be positive. Always be positive. Out of any bad situation, if you are positive, you will come out of it. And in a relationship or a friendship, I always tell people there are a lot of conflicts. You see, husband, wife, friend, association, particularly when you are a leader, you have to remember two things. One thing is being right is not everything. Husband, wife, that’s the most important thing you have to learn. Being right is not everything. And second thing gives space to the other person. Whenever I go to a wedding, I write a check to the couple and I write a little note and I write these two things. Three things. Number one, marriage is a word. It’s not a sentence, not a sentence for life. Second thing is being right is not everything. And third thing, please give space to each other and you will be happy. I do that A lot of times there is conflict happen and I am tempted to jump in and say something or do something and then I remember that just because I am right, I don’t have to prevail myself. And I have power, right? That’s when you have to control your power. So these are the life lessons. But the most important is live today as if this is the last day of your life. I do that. I try to do that. Ask me more. There is a book written by Mahatma Gandhi called My Experiment with Truth. And I challenge everybody that. I have read it like maybe 10 times. You read it, it will change your life. Even you read it before you read it again, it will change your life in some form, some way. Because that book was written by him about his own experience. And you know, he never lied. So he wrote, he said, it may not work for you, but this is how my life went. And I still, I have copies in English and Gujarati and I give it to couples and graduates and all that. I think he was the man. I mean, the other day I was questions they ask you when you financial institution security question, which living or dead person you would like to meet. I said, of course, Gandhi, now everybody.

[00:27:42 – 00:27:43] Nitin Bajaj

Knows your secret Question.

[00:27:43 – 00:28:14] Bharat Patel

Yeah, amazing guy. I read 200 books on Gandhi. I have it in my library. Anywhere I find a book on Gandhi written by other people, I buy it, read it. I know the inside of that guy’s mind. What was he thinking? But the another best book written by him. And that’s my number. Second best book I ever like is in Gujarati only. Maybe they translated. You understand Gujarati?

[00:28:14 – 00:28:14] Nitin Bajaj

Yes.

[00:28:15 – 00:29:56] Bharat Patel

So the name of the book is Dakshin Africano Satyagrah Itihas. A 400 page book. So he went to South Africa and that made Gandhi from Mohandad. Right? That made Mahatma from Mohandas. So that book tells how he was evolved and he went through rough time also. He did some bad things, some good things and he had a lot of, you know, insults and all that. But that book will tell you that, you know, this is what like I’ll give you one example. I always tell people I’m always on the side of children. Like if somebody is shouting at the children, I said, please don’t do that. It hurts him, hurts me. So I learned from the Gandhi. One little kid in South Africa, Gandhi was a teacher for a while. One little kid was bothering him a lot, teasing him. One day the boy crossed the line. So Gandhi raised his hand and wanted to hit him. And he says, the boy’s eyes wide open. I saw God in his eyes. I took my hand down. And he says, from that day, I always tell them that children never make mistakes. Adults make mistakes. So that’s one of the things you learn from him. So I go with my grandchildren and my Millie and her friends and go camping and all that. And some of the guys shout at my grandson. I took him aside and I said, kevin, please, he has nothing to fall back to. You have your wife, you have your money. This guy is innocent. He has nothing. So don’t shout at him. Children are the best thing happen to the world.

[00:29:56 – 00:29:59] Nitin Bajaj

And they have innocence and they are pure.

[00:29:59 – 00:29:59] Bharat Patel

Yeah, pure.

[00:30:02 – 00:30:18] Nitin Bajaj

Dr. Patel, thank you so much for sharing your journey, your story, but for most importantly, being you, for serving the community as you have for many decades and many more to come. We really appreciate who you are and what you do.

[00:30:18 – 00:30:26] Bharat Patel

Thank you for talking to me. I love to talk and I hope people learn few things from my life. That’s my goal.

[00:30:26 – 00:30:29] Nitin Bajaj

I know I have and I want to continue to do that.

[00:30:29 – 00:30:30] Bharat Patel

Thank you. Thank you all.