TRYST WITH NATUROPATHY
Naturopathy is
synonymous with old age, \”Gandhian
lifestyle\” so naturally people are perplexed at our act of joining a
naturopathy camp for two weeks. The
first reactions are incredulous \”Don\’t tell me! \” \”Are you sick
or something ?\”\”You have no weight issues!\” then why on earth
would someone embark on this path. Well to be honest it was out of plain and
simple curiosity just to go through this experience of detox. May be we will be
rejuvenated, recharged for the years ahead. If it works we could make it an
yearly feature, else I was sure it would be an experience worth remembering. So
here we are at a place called Urulikanchan about 20 mins from Pune at
Nisargopchar ashram. \”Nisarg\” incidentally means \”natural\” and
\”upchar\” is \”treatment\” literally; ashram I presume is part
of lexicon by now.
synonymous with old age, \”Gandhian
lifestyle\” so naturally people are perplexed at our act of joining a
naturopathy camp for two weeks. The
first reactions are incredulous \”Don\’t tell me! \” \”Are you sick
or something ?\”\”You have no weight issues!\” then why on earth
would someone embark on this path. Well to be honest it was out of plain and
simple curiosity just to go through this experience of detox. May be we will be
rejuvenated, recharged for the years ahead. If it works we could make it an
yearly feature, else I was sure it would be an experience worth remembering. So
here we are at a place called Urulikanchan about 20 mins from Pune at
Nisargopchar ashram. \”Nisarg\” incidentally means \”natural\” and
\”upchar\” is \”treatment\” literally; ashram I presume is part
of lexicon by now.
Our arrival here
itself commenced with a state transport bus journey from Hadapsar Pune India\’s
BPO hub. It must have been ages, since we had taken a bus ride like this; it was nostalgic bringing back memories of
our escapades from NDA when we looked forward to the Sunday liberties boarding
these very gigantic smoke belching diesel vehicles to Pune from Khadakwasla.
The buses have weathered these three decades and haven\’t changed one bit, even the
system to stop the buses continues to be the bell strung with a rope which the
conductor tugs to signal the driver to stop or to move. The graffiti too
remains the same, the conductor still screams \”pudhe sarkat raha\”
Marathi for \”keep moving ahead\” to the passengers standing. The seats
were the same, rexine coated coir ones with no comfort provided to the derriere
whatsoever, you would rather stand. Even the passengers, the same kurta
pyjamas topi clad villagers and ladies
attired in their nine yards, the only discernible change was the presence of
ubiquitous mobile phone. Almost everyone had one.
itself commenced with a state transport bus journey from Hadapsar Pune India\’s
BPO hub. It must have been ages, since we had taken a bus ride like this; it was nostalgic bringing back memories of
our escapades from NDA when we looked forward to the Sunday liberties boarding
these very gigantic smoke belching diesel vehicles to Pune from Khadakwasla.
The buses have weathered these three decades and haven\’t changed one bit, even the
system to stop the buses continues to be the bell strung with a rope which the
conductor tugs to signal the driver to stop or to move. The graffiti too
remains the same, the conductor still screams \”pudhe sarkat raha\”
Marathi for \”keep moving ahead\” to the passengers standing. The seats
were the same, rexine coated coir ones with no comfort provided to the derriere
whatsoever, you would rather stand. Even the passengers, the same kurta
pyjamas topi clad villagers and ladies
attired in their nine yards, the only discernible change was the presence of
ubiquitous mobile phone. Almost everyone had one.
The journey was
short, just about an hour, countryside too seems to have been overlooked by the
digital age, except for the concrete jungles which have mushroomed in the immediate
vicinity of the town and cities . The lush green fields and fresh air were just
the tonic which we were desperate for, having lived through thre Delhi
smog nightmare, specially so after
Diwali.
short, just about an hour, countryside too seems to have been overlooked by the
digital age, except for the concrete jungles which have mushroomed in the immediate
vicinity of the town and cities . The lush green fields and fresh air were just
the tonic which we were desperate for, having lived through thre Delhi
smog nightmare, specially so after
Diwali.
Urulikanchan is a
typical Maharashtra small town now, rather an overgrown village akin to the
rural areas else where in the country, narrow congested lanes infested with all
kinds of transport simultaneously jostling for space on these roads. Pigs and
the garbage strewn by the wayside only restricting the moving space but
the daredevil drivers deftly manage to
manoeuvre around them. Rural Maharashtra is probably the only abode left
for the proverbial Gandhi topi other than in Congress party meetings. Almost
every villager adorns these with pride, wonder how come the Gujjus have forsaken
them may be because actually even Gandhi ji didn\’t ever use it himself.
typical Maharashtra small town now, rather an overgrown village akin to the
rural areas else where in the country, narrow congested lanes infested with all
kinds of transport simultaneously jostling for space on these roads. Pigs and
the garbage strewn by the wayside only restricting the moving space but
the daredevil drivers deftly manage to
manoeuvre around them. Rural Maharashtra is probably the only abode left
for the proverbial Gandhi topi other than in Congress party meetings. Almost
every villager adorns these with pride, wonder how come the Gujjus have forsaken
them may be because actually even Gandhi ji didn\’t ever use it himself.
The ashram is actually within the town itself, may be
when it was conceived it would have been outside the village limits. The entry
was through a gate which resembled that of an open jail. The inmates though
seemed to be engaged in animated conversations as majority of them were from
the fairer but healthier sex. In fact I
suddenly started feeling very fit as majority of the \”sadhaks\” as we
were referred to, were obese some obscenely so. It appeared as though it was a
weight reduction clinic primarily. The remarkable aspect about the place was
the number of women employed right from reception to the doctors, physios to
house keeping and kitchen. Even more interesting was the usage and familiarity
with computers of the staff with a functional network connecting the doctors,
reception and mess thus monitoring and controlling diets very closely.
when it was conceived it would have been outside the village limits. The entry
was through a gate which resembled that of an open jail. The inmates though
seemed to be engaged in animated conversations as majority of them were from
the fairer but healthier sex. In fact I
suddenly started feeling very fit as majority of the \”sadhaks\” as we
were referred to, were obese some obscenely so. It appeared as though it was a
weight reduction clinic primarily. The remarkable aspect about the place was
the number of women employed right from reception to the doctors, physios to
house keeping and kitchen. Even more interesting was the usage and familiarity
with computers of the staff with a functional network connecting the doctors,
reception and mess thus monitoring and controlling diets very closely.
The rooms were
spacious enough but sparsely furnished, though adequate, making us realise the
futility of all the stuff that we keep accumulating all our lives. The doctor
herself was a very pleasing person and I
was at pains to explain the reasons for my presence in the ashram after all I
was quite fit, fortunately did not have any lingering medical issues although,
have had my share of visits and admissions in the hospital having broken quite
a few bones in a career spanning 30 years in uniform, nothing unusual! The only
nagging issue was recurring acidity which can probably be attributed to the
current sedentary lifestyle with prolonged office hours. She was amused and
decided to put me on a diet regimen which comprised herbal kadha ( magic potion with milk, jaggery and
basil juice) carrot and bottlegourd juice
followed by another concoction of basil and adusa ( a medicinal plant), lunch was boiled veg
with two jowar rotis chutney and
buttermilk. Evenings commenced with the same herbal kadha and dinner with wheat
rotis replacing jowar in the lunch menu. The exercise regimen was Yoga twice
once in the morning at 6 am and second time at 2 pm and the treatment so to say
was full body massage daily, steam bath on alternate days, Sun bath with layers
of earth daily. For spiritual pursuits
evening prayers followed by yog nidra/
meditation. All in all an interesting week ahead. Food was practically
salt free but palatable, served between 5.30 and 6.30 pm, rather early by most
standards but that gave us adequate time for the evening walk post dinner and
naturally we hit the bed and slept like logs.
spacious enough but sparsely furnished, though adequate, making us realise the
futility of all the stuff that we keep accumulating all our lives. The doctor
herself was a very pleasing person and I
was at pains to explain the reasons for my presence in the ashram after all I
was quite fit, fortunately did not have any lingering medical issues although,
have had my share of visits and admissions in the hospital having broken quite
a few bones in a career spanning 30 years in uniform, nothing unusual! The only
nagging issue was recurring acidity which can probably be attributed to the
current sedentary lifestyle with prolonged office hours. She was amused and
decided to put me on a diet regimen which comprised herbal kadha ( magic potion with milk, jaggery and
basil juice) carrot and bottlegourd juice
followed by another concoction of basil and adusa ( a medicinal plant), lunch was boiled veg
with two jowar rotis chutney and
buttermilk. Evenings commenced with the same herbal kadha and dinner with wheat
rotis replacing jowar in the lunch menu. The exercise regimen was Yoga twice
once in the morning at 6 am and second time at 2 pm and the treatment so to say
was full body massage daily, steam bath on alternate days, Sun bath with layers
of earth daily. For spiritual pursuits
evening prayers followed by yog nidra/
meditation. All in all an interesting week ahead. Food was practically
salt free but palatable, served between 5.30 and 6.30 pm, rather early by most
standards but that gave us adequate time for the evening walk post dinner and
naturally we hit the bed and slept like logs.
The next day
treatment commenced with the massage which lasted 45 blissful minutes… The
masseur a young lad made all my creaking bones and the not so toned muscles
come alive followed by a steam bath for about 15 minutes. The contraption used
for the steam was a relic of Gandhiji\’s days but quite effective. Sun bath and
all the concoctions made a heady cocktail and after lunch it had to be siesta
with eyepatches only facilitating it further. The massage and the steam bath provided
us with an interesting visual where apart from tummies of all shapes and sizes
which were at display it was the humble underwear which displayed the
kaleidoscope right from the age old
striped string bound ones to the jockeys in all shapes and sizes in varying
states of use and misuse some barely managing to cover the vitals some failing
despite their valiant efforts. I was left speechless by many a tummies one in
particular could give any sumo wrestler a run for his money. He had been there
three times already in the last decade,
not a very good advertisement for naturopathy I must say. He admitted he
was here for detox rather than attempting to lose weight which he invariably
lost but made up for it soon on his return.
treatment commenced with the massage which lasted 45 blissful minutes… The
masseur a young lad made all my creaking bones and the not so toned muscles
come alive followed by a steam bath for about 15 minutes. The contraption used
for the steam was a relic of Gandhiji\’s days but quite effective. Sun bath and
all the concoctions made a heady cocktail and after lunch it had to be siesta
with eyepatches only facilitating it further. The massage and the steam bath provided
us with an interesting visual where apart from tummies of all shapes and sizes
which were at display it was the humble underwear which displayed the
kaleidoscope right from the age old
striped string bound ones to the jockeys in all shapes and sizes in varying
states of use and misuse some barely managing to cover the vitals some failing
despite their valiant efforts. I was left speechless by many a tummies one in
particular could give any sumo wrestler a run for his money. He had been there
three times already in the last decade,
not a very good advertisement for naturopathy I must say. He admitted he
was here for detox rather than attempting to lose weight which he invariably
lost but made up for it soon on his return.
Surrounded by old fat
ladies and a few retired old men made one suddenly feel old a rather unnerving
feeling, frankly I don\’t even feel my
age of half a century notwithstanding my
grey hair and the balding pate .
ladies and a few retired old men made one suddenly feel old a rather unnerving
feeling, frankly I don\’t even feel my
age of half a century notwithstanding my
grey hair and the balding pate .
I decided to switch
to raw diet which comprised sprouts fresh diced veg and buttermilk for lunch
and fruits for dinner with the rider that these should not be mixed i.e. if it
is papaya then no apples or figs can go with it just papaya, difficult
proposition by any chance. But I loved the concept and enjoyed these meals more
than the cooked ones.
to raw diet which comprised sprouts fresh diced veg and buttermilk for lunch
and fruits for dinner with the rider that these should not be mixed i.e. if it
is papaya then no apples or figs can go with it just papaya, difficult
proposition by any chance. But I loved the concept and enjoyed these meals more
than the cooked ones.
The good part was
that I had my better half and father in law for company.He has been an old hand
here having been here thrice earlier and has benefited each time relieved from
his chronic back aches. They normally recommend a stay of minimum two weeks
there but I was happy with my week\’s stint in these precincts.
that I had my better half and father in law for company.He has been an old hand
here having been here thrice earlier and has benefited each time relieved from
his chronic back aches. They normally recommend a stay of minimum two weeks
there but I was happy with my week\’s stint in these precincts.