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Rural medicine
Falling ill away from home can be very disconcerting to anyone. Especially when the area is not familiar. City-bred people have a phobia about falling ill in rural areas.

I too had a phobia about falling ill in the village. I always hoped that should I fall ill, I'd be surrounded by familiar faces.

But this was not to be. The most dreaded event occurred one night when I fell hopelessly ill. I could not 'phone and frighten my family and friends, they were too far away to offer any quick relief.

As dawn crept in, I barely had life to 'phone the village for assistance. The more urbanized wanted to get me to a hospital, while the more rural folk came and questioned quietly. Then they came back armed with a little bag. "Don't worry," they said, "you will be alright. Plenty of liquid is what you need." They administered Jeevani and coriander roasted and made into a brew like coffee. Young Beli fruits cut and boiled, and after that lemon and water.

The next day they gave me a thin gruel of roasted rice conjee, and little marbles of roasted rice pounded finely and mixed with sugar. I had been having a bout of severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Within 48 hours I was able to walk around. I was alive!

Now I knew how these people lived their lives on rugged terrain, off the beaten track. They carried with them the knowledge of their ancestors. They had remedies for most common ailments.

Once I had a sore throat, and these very same people gave me a small flower with a tiny yellow head. "Bite on it," they said, and it did relieve the phlegm in my throat. I felt much better. When I told my family they stared at me with something akin to horror. "You will poison yourself someday," they said.

There is also a thistle-like plant with a tiny white head, which most village folk use to wash their eyes when it feels tired and gritty. And while walking among the forest glades, they have pointed out to me various plants for various complaints - such as cures for earaches, urine infections, "bed wetting" problems of children, joint pains etc. "These are the first cures we will administer before going to the doctor," they say simply.

Once they were quite sure I could keep myself steady they took me to the "Vedamahattaya" to ensure that I was well on my way to recovery. People swear that he has snatched them from the jaws of death, and cured many who could not be cured by western treatment.

I did not feel the need of the Vedamahattaya, but since it would have made them feel better and satisfied my curiosity, I went.

Here was a man at peace with himself. Not a frazzled, overworked doctor. He was familiar with the western drugs too. He said that today most patients come for ayurvedic treatment after being dissatisfied with western medicine. They have to be familiar with western treatment so as not to worsen the cause in order to effect the cure. He infused confidence. Perhaps that is what patients needed to feel; all is right. As for me, I was cured of a phobia - gone was my fear of falling ill in a village.

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