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Power to heal
AUG 20 -
If you’ve ever suffered from an obnoxious cold, and your supply of Vicks or D-Cold has been exhausted, you may have noticed your grandmother slip into the kitchen to prepare a special ointment or a warm drink--her own recipe--just for you. Magically, it seems, the cold has disappeared the next morning, and you no longer need to visit the physician. It is amazing to see how herbal ingredients like tulsi, neem and camphor, and spices such as turmeric can help cure countless minor diseases and heal wounds. You can learn your grandparents’ secret formulas by observing as they prepare each concoction; they seldom spell out the recipe. The practice of traditional healers around the Valley is passed down in a similar fashion--they learn from their predecessors, help heal others, and then pass the formula on to a select few successors. The only difference between traditional healers and your grandparents is that they have cures for a wider range of diseases--from skin rashes to bone fractures, from diarrhoea to severe jaundice--and they actually work.
“I have a torn ligament; the doctors suggested a plaster. However, I was uncomfortable with that idea. So I came here,” says Ramila Manandhar who is satisfied with her treatment from traditional healer Ramesh Man in Majipat, near Ason. Ramesh Man has a large inventory of treatments for dislocated bones, sinusitis, gastritis, problems related to nerves and numerous other ailments. Another patient, Uttam Bol Shrestha, had a chronic back problem that was exacerbated after he fell down the stairs several years ago. When he sought help from allopathic doctors, their only suggestion was an operation. He disapproved of this idea, and opted for other natural treatments, including acupuncture. Nothing he tried bore satisfactory results. Later, he heard about the treatment available at Majipat from his niece who had recently been treated by Ramesh Man for a severe ankle injury. Now, he has been undergoing treatment at Majipat for a week and says, “The man here rubs my back using some ointment and it gives me relief; I feel better now.”
Like Manandhar and Shrestha, people from all corners of the Valley are in search of these traditional healers. Baba Regmi, an elder woman from Bhaktapur, says, “It took me many days to find this place; but I can finally get rid of these painful lumps on my feet.” Ramesh Man claims that he has even been getting patients from Europe. A few years ago, he cured a child that Western doctors believed would require a lifelong rib support; since then Man has gained much popularity.
“People learn about us from different sources like friends or relatives and they come looking for us” says Ashta Bahadur Manandhar, another traditional healer in Samakhusi. Best known for treating jaundice, he also offers treatment for other problems like asthma, diabetes, sinusitis, gastritis, piles (haemorrhoid) and skin rashes. Manandhar has been a traditional healer for over 30 years now. Like Ramesh Man, he prepares his medicines himself, and along with his brothers has also opened a jaundice treatment centre in Sitapaila.
The major dilemma for people today is the credibility of such healers. Are the medicines and methods reliable? Moreover, such practitioners also ask their patients to abandon all other allopathic treatments they have been receiving. Manandhar assures that the medicines he prepares are purely herbal; furthermore, they are effective and he has had no complaints so far. He explains that his medicines have proven helpful even for diabetes, and when patients pair them with precautionary eating habits, they don’t face severe problems further down the road. He adds, “Most people come to us after they have been disappointed with allopathic treatments and it takes time to adjust to completely herbal methods. With such patients I start with a mild dose and it takes more time for them to recover.” He prepares personalised medicines for his patients, but the compositions are neither written nor defined anywhere on paper. He simply uses his experience as a basis to gather herbs and prepare medicines.
Several reasons can be identified as to why such treatments are still prevalent; most importantly, these methods have been successful in many cases and they are a cheap alternative to doctor and hospital expenses. Manandhar says that the total cost of his treatment may be equal to the cost of a routine check-up at some hospitals in the city. Both Man and Manandhar have been working in this profession as an inheritance from their forefathers and consider their work a kind of selfless service. They charge a nominal price and thus believe that they are helping those who cannot afford the high cost of Western medicine. Nevertheless, Man also has something to add to his credibility--he has a Bachelor’s degree in medicine. He combines his traditional methods with modern technology to cure his patients. In many cases, like back pain or basic sprains, he first applies a traditional ointment and then he works the problem area using a massager.
Both traditional healers express satisfaction in curing others, even if the profession doesn’t provide them with adequate means to live by. Manandhar’s son has been learning from his father, but Ramesh Man says he is unsure whether his trade will continue after him. Further, in an age of medical advancements, will there really be a place for traditional medicines?
Posted on: 2010-08-21 09:05
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