Room No : 201 - Kottakkal Diaries

"Please don't wait. Please try Ayurveda immediately", these were the first few words from a caring friend when he came to know that I have a cervical disc problem. The recommendation was based on the improvement he had seen for his treatment. Six months later, here I am, in Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, Kochi, almost at the end of my 21 days treatment.

In a years time, I have seen 3 Doctors for this problem and 2 of them suggested me to get a surgery done - a disc replacement surgery. So, I decided to give a chance to myself with Ayurveda before even thinking of the surgery. Like a lot of people, am not very comfortable with letting someone put a knife on me. It's scary. :) . When I was a kid, probably 10 years old, I had this appendicitis pain, and in normal scenarios, it is to be surgically removed. The word "operation" itself was enough for me to make a big scene in the hospital. I cried so much that the doctor decided to try medicines instead of surgery. And guess what, it worked! My appendicitis problem was solved just with medicines. I believe that this time too, I will escape the surgery.

After deciding to go for Ayurveda after the Doctors at Amrita Hospital also suggested surgery, I, along with Achan (my father), visited the Outpatient Centre in this Ayurveda Hospital. The Doctor after seeing my medical report told me that this can be cured in Ayurveda, and hinted me not to go for surgery. I was delighted by this news, it was the most positive feedback a Doctor had given me in the last one year. I enquired the availability of rooms which are normally fully booked for 3 months. But, fortunately there were some cancellation, and I got a room for 21 days from the very next day. I rung up my boss in office and requested for medical leave. I informed the Doctor that I am willing to get admitted. And then came the first shock, the Doctor said, "Very good, please shave your head before you come tomorrow, we have some oil treatment to be done on your head". I accepted the cruel request, and agreed to cut off the very few surviving vegetation on my head. I am strongly against deforestation. ;).

Achan took me to the barber shop where he usually goes. He told the barber to shave my head. It was an easy job for the barber to shave off the hair, as I watched my beloved hair falling down. After the job was done, when I looked in the mirror, I thought, not bad, this way I don't have to find innovative ideas to hide bald patches on my head. Achan wanted to trim his hair, so he took the next turn. I immediately took revenge and told the barber to shave Achan's head too. Achan almost jumped off the chair hearing that. Thankfully, the barber knew that I was just kidding. The same evening, I took off my moustache too, using the opportunity to see how I would look without a moustache. The courage came from the fact that I would not see anyone I know for the next 21 days. 

Next day morning, we went to the hospital, finished off the admission formalities, and the admin staff guided us to the room. We walked to the next block through the campus which was neatly maintained with a nicely landscaped garden. The block with patient rooms had 3 floors including the ground floor. We took the lift to the 2nd floor, and I was standing in front of Room 201, the place I would be spending the next 3 weeks. First look at the hospital and it looked like a resort home. Actually, it does give you such a feeling, but not if you are the patient. The room was well maintained with two beds, a TV, an attached toilet, a fridge. The view from the window is towards the front gate of the hospital. Happy with the nice environment in the hospital, I slowly settled down and enjoyed the thoughts of me sleeping all day and night in this place for three weeks. 

I started reading the hospital instructions leaflet, and there was the second shock, "Don't sleep during the day time". That is the time I started worrying on what I would do all these days. I was also restrained from working ( remotely logging in to office) by the Doctor. He said he would take away the laptop if he finds me using it for more than 30 minutes. The only restriction I really liked is that I should take bath only once in two days. It should have been more. ;)

I am allowed to eat food prepared in the hospital canteen only, strictly. "The patient diet", a vegetarian diet prepared with less of everything to ensure your stomach doesn't get upset during the treatment. But, I being a vegetarian (most of the times), I was ok with it. In fact, I liked the food, it was the kind of food I prefer. A bit more of salt and pepper would have helped though. As the days passed, I realized that the main pass time for me was to wait for the canteen to open for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner.

I had two treatments on a daily basis for the first two weeks. Each treatment would be for an hour. I should salute the boys doing the treatment, they have to continuously massage your body for one hour without stopping. I felt tired just lying there, but these guys just went on, and upon enquiring how they manage this work, they said, they have 6-7 such massages every single day. Hats off to them for their hard work.

I used to speak to them during the treatment sessions, few of them were doing their degree courses while they took a break for this job. There was also a person who was doing modelling as a profession. He was self inspired with his ambitions to become a star one day. I hope to see him on the big screen soon. There was also a Manchester United die hard fan, like me. We shared the happiness and sorrow every Man Utd fan shares in this world. The boys play badminton in a court inside the hospital after their working hours, it was a joy to watch my favourite game, resisting my urge to jump into the court and start playing.

The third week treatment was the most adventurous of all. As part of the treatment, there is a detoxification program, and for that medicine is given to clear your digestive system. And to my shock, the medicine had to enter the system through the exit route. And it had to be done for 7 days. All thoughts started running through my mind including how I would even go through this. But nothing could be done, it's one of the panchakarmas in Ayurveda, I have to go through it for an effective outcome. They gave me this stuff, and told me, "you may not be able to hold it for more than 2 min...", before they could complete instructing me, they saw me flying to the toilet. Never before in my life, have I answered nature's call like that. I was literally sweating, more than I would have if I played 2 hours of badminton. The next day, I casually enquiried to the person administering this procedure, "How many litres do you inject?". He immediately replied, "No litres, it's just 900ml." my eyeballs almost popped out. But, I did feel lighter and healthier after this treatment. And to those people, planning for ayurveda treatment, actually, it is not scary as it sounds. It is just a normal procedure. I have just added some masala in my writing. So, don't worry.

During the two weeks, I approached the doctor two times for permission to go outside for a while. It was like my dreams getting shattered when the doctor denied permission citing that it is not safe to go out while in the current treatment. I would walk back to the room, and show all my anger to my Achan. Yesterday, during the morning rounds, the Doctor walked into my room, enquired my conditions, and offered me permission to go out. I was filled with joy, I took a quick shower and in 15 minutes, I was outside. I called my wife, I told her that I got parole for 3 hours. She was more delighted as she was a victim of my continuous torture for the last few weeks due to boredom. After 3 hours of shopping, I returned promptly and resumed my sage living.

Another two days to go, and I will be back in Singapore. Back in the busy life running behind time. But, really thank God to have given me time to spend with Achan and Amma, and a few miraculous moments. Maybe, the need for the disease doesn't exist anymore, and it is in the process of going away.