(This article appeared in Malayalam Weekly dated December 10, 2004)
Our democratic government (of Kerala) has decreed that the famous “Vaidyamadom Family” which has rendered yeomen service in Ayurvedic medical treatment for the past few centuries need not, hereinafter bother to continue that. There are enough number of multinationals like those who invented thalidomide and endosulfan, and converted the poor people of third world countries into their Guinea pigs who are competent do this. Medical treatment is, after all the fundamental right of their agents and servants. They can, with impunity, treat the poor of this country with their medicines and methods banned elsewhere. Official recognition shall, hereafter be granted only to this brand of treatment. Globalization will be complete and effective only when the traditions of every country, every people, are rooted out. The fiat against Vaidyamadom and other traditional practitioners is but a small step towards this cherished goal.
Two incidents are presented here. One of them happened more than fifty years ago. My three-year-old little brother had an attack of some unknown disease. Nearby doctors and physicians treated him with no avail. After the child was almost written off, my mother sent for the tribal physician, “Malayan Panicker”. The “untouchable” Adivasi Physician (Doctors had no untouchability even fifty years ago!!!), with his single-minded attention treated him for a couple of days with his herbal medicines until the child woke up and started playing. For a month the “doctor” would regularly visit to enquire about his little patient. Our family was ready to give him half the kingdom; but he replied, “If I accept remuneration my treatment will no longer be effective”. This is traditional medicine. Traces of this tradition are still vibrant in remote villages in this country even today.
The second picture is very recent: In fifty years we all forgot “Malayan Panicker”. Those who didn’t forget ridiculed him and his tribe. Untouchability somehow shifted from his person to profession. All of us learnt Science and Technology, traveled and worked abroad, drank Coke and Pepsi and returned home to find that our mother was already in her deathbed. According to the prevailing fashion we got her admitted to a five star hospital apparently to prevent her death. A doctor each specialized in the respective organ from head to toe examined her and prescribed various kinds of treatments. One of them performed an operation, another an endoscopy while a third administered blood and plasma. We, the near and dear had no entry to the “intensive care unit”. You may watch through the keyhole if the security men permitted. When her breathing pattern changed, indicating her final moments we tried to wet her dry lips with a drop of water, which the young lady in white coat tried her best to prevent. When the heartbeat slowed down she injected medicines, brought it to 150 a minute, checked the blood pressure and smiled in satisfaction. Our mother of course breathed her last despite this drama of “treatment against death” that repeated a few times. We got the dead body released after showing them the cash receipt for the performance. This is the modern, globalized medicine- Medicine that has shunned the tradition of wetting the dying person’s dry lips- Medicine that has lost its soul.
According to a WHO report, India is a county with one of the lowest per capita expenditure on medical treatment. It is also stated (of course, in small print) that the reason for this low spending is that a good percentage of Indians depend upon inexpensive systems like homoeopathy and traditional medicines. Powerful drug manufacturers and multinationals were able to wipe out homoeopathy from the United States where it was popular a few decades ago. This effort of eradicating inexpensive treatment successfully continues in other countries with the tacit connivance of puppet regimes. In the case of countries like India, there are no short cut methods; one has to limit the definitions of freedom in infinitesimal and incomprehensible steps. As it is difficult to curtail our freedom to approach any physician, the only recourse open is to eradicate every kind of traditional medicine.
Hundreds of intellectuals, rationalists, doctors and ordinary people are knowingly and unknowingly party to this global conspiracy. The general contention that everything outside the framework of Western Science is wrong stems from a lack of understanding of Science itself. Science is only a tentative description of the laws of nature as observed and understood from time to time. The essential feature of Science is its honesty to admit its own mistakes in the light of new evidences. “Truth” and “Science” are not one and the same. The popular notion of the two being the same is a modern superstition. The inextricably intertwined relationship between the human body and mind is still outside the purview of modern medical science. Ignorance in certain domains is millions of times more than Knowledge itself. It is preposterous to insist that all traditional knowledge that falls beyond the framework of modern science should be discarded.
It is clear that those who swear by Science to stamp out traditional medicine are not motivated by any lofty understanding of science, but by some baser instinct akin to religious fanaticism. It is true that there are many cases of fraudulent activities in the name of traditional medicine; but it is equally true of biotechnology and computer science. That certainly cannot be held against the branch of knowledge!!
When different branches of medicine compete among themselves, the mighty would try to annihilate the weak and meek. In India, the organized sector of big hospitals, and drug manufacturers can capture an enormous market if the traditional and cheaper medicines and practices are banned. Everything appears to be fair in a market economy. The CEO of Coca Cola once made a statement that Coke’s real competitor in India is not Pepsi, but the drinking water. Thirsty Indians drink water instead of soft drinks. This bad habit has to change. This will certainly change if drinking water is privatized by acquiring Plachimada and Narmada Valley. There is a lot of underlying similarity between the two cases.
Medical history of the West is not very ancient compared to those of China or India. Many well developed and proven modes of treatment were prevalent in both these countries, Ayurveda and Acupuncture being two well-known systems. These branches of study needed long years of intense training through stable teacher-student relationships and devoted learning. These traditional training methods are different from the present day classes from ten-to four where the lectures fall in deaf ears of the uninitiated sons and daughters of fortune-seekers. What our governments and universities believe is that any process of learning that does not go through this ten-to-four-drama is no leaning at all. That is why the traditional medical practitioners do not get the “official” recognition. (If the carpenters trained in ITI are unable to persuade he government to banish all traditional carpentry, it is only because they do not have the money and political support to pull the necessary strings)
In the health care system prevalent in the West you cannot buy an analgesic tablet from the store without a doctor’s prescription. You cannot even meet a doctor of your choice. You are allowed to consult only the specific doctor named by your insurance company, because they pay the doctor’s fee and the cost of drugs. If there is any deficiency of service there are attorney organizations to file cases on your behalf and get you huge compensations. An ordinary citizen is just a helpless creature surrounded by multinational drug manufacturers, hospitals, doctors’ organizations, attorney groups and others. This is the American way of life.(Into that Heaven of Freedom let my country awake!!!) Bringing the whole world under this lifestyle is called globalization. Bombing of Iraq is just one step in this holy endeavour.
Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Yoga, Kalarippayattu, Marmachikitsa and a host of other systems form part of our tradition. They are our intellectual properties. The health, mutual trust and stability of our society are delicately related to these traditions and traditional knowledge. Our attempt to transplant “American Way of Life” as a panacea to all our ills, without appreciating the localized and ephemeral nature of many western findings is, in mildest terms, retrograde and ridiculous. The Organized sector and government should resist this temptation and withdraw from this perilous path.
* * *
Tail end: It looks very appropriate that the Excise Department is vested with powers to judge whether Vaidyamadom is competent to treat patients, and to pull out traditional medicine by its roots. After all, they are the guardian angels of new traditions of Hyrunneesa and Manichan.
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Our democratic government (of Kerala) has decreed that the famous “Vaidyamadom Family” which has rendered yeomen service in Ayurvedic medical treatment for the past few centuries need not, hereinafter bother to continue that. There are enough number of multinationals like those who invented thalidomide and endosulfan, and converted the poor people of third world countries into their Guinea pigs who are competent do this. Medical treatment is, after all the fundamental right of their agents and servants. They can, with impunity, treat the poor of this country with their medicines and methods banned elsewhere. Official recognition shall, hereafter be granted only to this brand of treatment. Globalization will be complete and effective only when the traditions of every country, every people, are rooted out. The fiat against Vaidyamadom and other traditional practitioners is but a small step towards this cherished goal.
Two incidents are presented here. One of them happened more than fifty years ago. My three-year-old little brother had an attack of some unknown disease. Nearby doctors and physicians treated him with no avail. After the child was almost written off, my mother sent for the tribal physician, “Malayan Panicker”. The “untouchable” Adivasi Physician (Doctors had no untouchability even fifty years ago!!!), with his single-minded attention treated him for a couple of days with his herbal medicines until the child woke up and started playing. For a month the “doctor” would regularly visit to enquire about his little patient. Our family was ready to give him half the kingdom; but he replied, “If I accept remuneration my treatment will no longer be effective”. This is traditional medicine. Traces of this tradition are still vibrant in remote villages in this country even today.
The second picture is very recent: In fifty years we all forgot “Malayan Panicker”. Those who didn’t forget ridiculed him and his tribe. Untouchability somehow shifted from his person to profession. All of us learnt Science and Technology, traveled and worked abroad, drank Coke and Pepsi and returned home to find that our mother was already in her deathbed. According to the prevailing fashion we got her admitted to a five star hospital apparently to prevent her death. A doctor each specialized in the respective organ from head to toe examined her and prescribed various kinds of treatments. One of them performed an operation, another an endoscopy while a third administered blood and plasma. We, the near and dear had no entry to the “intensive care unit”. You may watch through the keyhole if the security men permitted. When her breathing pattern changed, indicating her final moments we tried to wet her dry lips with a drop of water, which the young lady in white coat tried her best to prevent. When the heartbeat slowed down she injected medicines, brought it to 150 a minute, checked the blood pressure and smiled in satisfaction. Our mother of course breathed her last despite this drama of “treatment against death” that repeated a few times. We got the dead body released after showing them the cash receipt for the performance. This is the modern, globalized medicine- Medicine that has shunned the tradition of wetting the dying person’s dry lips- Medicine that has lost its soul.
According to a WHO report, India is a county with one of the lowest per capita expenditure on medical treatment. It is also stated (of course, in small print) that the reason for this low spending is that a good percentage of Indians depend upon inexpensive systems like homoeopathy and traditional medicines. Powerful drug manufacturers and multinationals were able to wipe out homoeopathy from the United States where it was popular a few decades ago. This effort of eradicating inexpensive treatment successfully continues in other countries with the tacit connivance of puppet regimes. In the case of countries like India, there are no short cut methods; one has to limit the definitions of freedom in infinitesimal and incomprehensible steps. As it is difficult to curtail our freedom to approach any physician, the only recourse open is to eradicate every kind of traditional medicine.
Hundreds of intellectuals, rationalists, doctors and ordinary people are knowingly and unknowingly party to this global conspiracy. The general contention that everything outside the framework of Western Science is wrong stems from a lack of understanding of Science itself. Science is only a tentative description of the laws of nature as observed and understood from time to time. The essential feature of Science is its honesty to admit its own mistakes in the light of new evidences. “Truth” and “Science” are not one and the same. The popular notion of the two being the same is a modern superstition. The inextricably intertwined relationship between the human body and mind is still outside the purview of modern medical science. Ignorance in certain domains is millions of times more than Knowledge itself. It is preposterous to insist that all traditional knowledge that falls beyond the framework of modern science should be discarded.
It is clear that those who swear by Science to stamp out traditional medicine are not motivated by any lofty understanding of science, but by some baser instinct akin to religious fanaticism. It is true that there are many cases of fraudulent activities in the name of traditional medicine; but it is equally true of biotechnology and computer science. That certainly cannot be held against the branch of knowledge!!
When different branches of medicine compete among themselves, the mighty would try to annihilate the weak and meek. In India, the organized sector of big hospitals, and drug manufacturers can capture an enormous market if the traditional and cheaper medicines and practices are banned. Everything appears to be fair in a market economy. The CEO of Coca Cola once made a statement that Coke’s real competitor in India is not Pepsi, but the drinking water. Thirsty Indians drink water instead of soft drinks. This bad habit has to change. This will certainly change if drinking water is privatized by acquiring Plachimada and Narmada Valley. There is a lot of underlying similarity between the two cases.
Medical history of the West is not very ancient compared to those of China or India. Many well developed and proven modes of treatment were prevalent in both these countries, Ayurveda and Acupuncture being two well-known systems. These branches of study needed long years of intense training through stable teacher-student relationships and devoted learning. These traditional training methods are different from the present day classes from ten-to four where the lectures fall in deaf ears of the uninitiated sons and daughters of fortune-seekers. What our governments and universities believe is that any process of learning that does not go through this ten-to-four-drama is no leaning at all. That is why the traditional medical practitioners do not get the “official” recognition. (If the carpenters trained in ITI are unable to persuade he government to banish all traditional carpentry, it is only because they do not have the money and political support to pull the necessary strings)
In the health care system prevalent in the West you cannot buy an analgesic tablet from the store without a doctor’s prescription. You cannot even meet a doctor of your choice. You are allowed to consult only the specific doctor named by your insurance company, because they pay the doctor’s fee and the cost of drugs. If there is any deficiency of service there are attorney organizations to file cases on your behalf and get you huge compensations. An ordinary citizen is just a helpless creature surrounded by multinational drug manufacturers, hospitals, doctors’ organizations, attorney groups and others. This is the American way of life.(Into that Heaven of Freedom let my country awake!!!) Bringing the whole world under this lifestyle is called globalization. Bombing of Iraq is just one step in this holy endeavour.
Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Yoga, Kalarippayattu, Marmachikitsa and a host of other systems form part of our tradition. They are our intellectual properties. The health, mutual trust and stability of our society are delicately related to these traditions and traditional knowledge. Our attempt to transplant “American Way of Life” as a panacea to all our ills, without appreciating the localized and ephemeral nature of many western findings is, in mildest terms, retrograde and ridiculous. The Organized sector and government should resist this temptation and withdraw from this perilous path.
* * *
Tail end: It looks very appropriate that the Excise Department is vested with powers to judge whether Vaidyamadom is competent to treat patients, and to pull out traditional medicine by its roots. After all, they are the guardian angels of new traditions of Hyrunneesa and Manichan.
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