MUMBAI, Sept. 5 -- Bringing the curtain down on a bitter battle, the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) recently gave homeopaths the go-ahead to prescribe allopathic medicine, a privilege still being contested in the courts. After the first homeopath was allowed to register on August 4, ten more practitioners received their certification on September 1. Although not a full licence to practice allopathy, homeopaths were allowed to register with the MMC after taking a year-long 'bridge' course - a Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP). However, doctors who practice modern medicine view this as a misstep, a breach in the demarcation between traditional and modern systems of medicine. Armed with an MBBS degree and post-graduate specialisations that take years to acquire, they say opening this door could impact patient safety and the standards of modern medical practice. Homeopaths, on the other hand, argue that they fill a critical gap in the Indian health care system. They bring healing to marginalised communities where allopathic doctors do not want to practice. For instance, Dr Prashant Bhoir, 50, a homeopath who received his certification on September 1, says he is a Bhiwandi native and the only doctor from his Agri community serving there. HT spoke to these newly registered homeopaths, from the villages of Jalna and Jalgaon, to the slums of Bhiwandi and Pune, and the resettlement colonies at Mankhurd in Mumbai....