Floods in Chennai and Ayurveda

by Sheela Rani Chunkath

With relief work in full swing in Chennai following the deluge, one cannot but appreciate human resilience. Many people, especially the poor, have come to terms with their material losses and have gone back to living their normal lives.

Relief material comes and goes, with the more aggressive flood victims cornering more than their fair share, but relief can only be just that and can be no substitute for work days lost or a lifetime's possessions washed away.

Now, the spectre off ill-health looms large according to health specialists. If Ayurveda and Siddha had been popularised by the state and central governments many of the fevers and other ailments could have been tackled without having to resort to antibiotics except in very few cases.

Sudarshan, the herbal churanam, made into a tablet for convenience, could have tackled 30-40% of the fevers. Similarly, nilavembu kudineer, which is the Siddha equivalent (minus a few herbs) of Sudarshan, could have been administered as a matter of course. Now, we have people standing on street corners administering this kashayam. Seems as miraculous as standing in street corners and distributing Crocin. Crocin is a household name but Sudarshan is not; even though it is far more effective and goes to the root of the fever (please refer to my previous articles).

For gastroenteritis, medicines like Kutaja arishtam, Dadhimashtakam and omam water would be extremely useful. Arrowroot powder, rice porridge or kanji with ajowan and jeera can help with simple stomach upsets. Fungal infections, which would be common because of walking in stagnant water, can be tackled by application of Triphala churanam or Pungam thailam. Respiratory illnesses can be tackled with Thippli rasayanam, Agasthya rasayanam and Taleesadi churanam (Please refer earlier articles for all the remedies) It is a shame that our medical heritage does not come in useful in times of crisis as we have not bothered to foster a trust in our own Indian medical systems.

Most people, even the most educated ones do not know what the BAMS degree is. On the other hand, MBBS is common parlance and almost everyone knows about the MBBS doctor. The ayurvedic doctor with his BAMS degree - the Bachelor of Ayurvedic medicine and Sciences is looked upon with suspicion as a quack or considered a half-baked doctor at best. The government has not supported our traditional systems with enough resources and even today, the bulk of the health care budget goes in supporting allopathy.

There is also a lot of confusion as to whether one should teach pure Ayurveda or whether it should be integrated with modern medicine. Even today, there is quite a bit of emphasis on modern medicine in the syllabus for BAMS, leaving the student somewhat confused. it is the stalwarts in the field who practice Ayurveda as it ought to be practised. There must be faith in one's own healing system, especially as it has stood the test of time.

I recently witnessed a medical miracle. My yoga teacher had an accident where her Achilles tendon got ruptured. All the orthopedicians she consulted advised her to surgically attach the tendon back in place. My yoga teacher was reluctant and as she said "I cannot do any asanas properly if I undergo surgery". So she set about repairing her injury with yoga. As she herself is a trained therapist, she worked her magic and she is today walking around comfortably, hardly a month after the accident.

Our vaidyars should have the confidence to practice the medicine they decided to learn and the government must unstintingly help support this process.

 

--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/