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A
strong believer in the philosophy of Nature Cure, Mahatma Gandhi
founded Nisargopchar Ashram at Uruli Kanchan in March 1946. He
believed that where personal, domestic, and public sanitation are
strictly observed and due care is taken in diet, exercise, purity of
mind, then inner and outer illness becomes impossible.
Uruli
Kanchan is a town located on Pune-Solapur Highway No. 9 and is 30 km
east of Pune city. Set amidst huge trees is Nisargopchar Ashram
(Nature Cure Center). People come here from all over the country and
even from as far as Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea and
other places for nature cure.
Built
on a plot of 9 acres, the Ashram is walled from all sides to keep out
the hustle-bustle of the outside world. Inside are low barrack-like
buildings, relieved by patches of garden and lawns beautifully
maintained. Pathways are lined with huge trees and everyone looks
busy but calm.
A
printed board, at the main building reads:
Nature
Cure believes in:
More
dish, more disease,
More
drugs, more doubts,
More
comforts, more complaints,
More
relief, more grief,
Hunger
is not only a good cook, but a physician too,
We
should eat what we require, and
NOT
what we DESIRE.
The
board more or less sums up the basics of Nature Cure.
The
treatment is solely based on five natural elements that is Ether
(Akash), Sunlight (Tej), Air (Vayu) Water (Jal) and Earth (Prithvi).
It includes sun bath, walk in fresh air, use of mud, use of hot and
cold water internally and externally, as per prescriptions.
Natural
positive food like sprouts, vegetables, fruits and milk is believed
to work as medicine for purification of body and mind. Fasting on
water, juice, fruits, coconut water, yoga and other treatments help
in elimination of toxic matters from the body.
"There
is a strict `no' to three things in Naturopathy -- salt, sugar, white
flour" says Dr. R.V.Nisal, Head of the Ashram. Naturopathy
believes in natural food and thus only vegetarian food is served to
the patients as prescribed by the doctor and is catered from the
Ashram kitchen. The treatment can last from 7 days to 3 months,
patients have to stay at the Ashram during that period. To start
with, laboratory investigation of blood and urine is done and, on the
basis of this, the doctors decide on the treatment. Allopathic
medicine, if being taken by the patients, are slowly withdrawn.
Naturopathy
offers promising cure on chronic, functional and psychosomatic
diseases like arthritis, asthma, lumbar spondylitis, digestive
disorders, hypertension and ischaemic heart diseases. Diabetes
mellitus, skin diseases like eczema and psoriasis, obesity are very
well managed by simple procedures and diet control.
Naturopathy
basically consists of removing all the wrongs in the way of life of a
human being. "What modern Allopathic medicine does is suppress
the diseases and give relief without removing the cause", says
Dr. R. V. Nisal.
The
chances of success in treatment range from 80% to 90%. But it depends
on the condition and the extent of degeneration of the body. For
example psoriasis, modern science says it is incurable, but it is
treated in the Ashram in 7 to 14 days with mud and alkaline juice
with excellent results.
"Patients
with chronic heart diseases are advised to undergo by-pass surgery
operation, but are treated in Naturopathy without a scratch on their
body", says Dr. Nisal.
Though
the length of the treatment varies from person to person, some like
Mr.C.M Shukla, a social worker from Agra, keep coming back. Mr.
Shukla suffers from numbness in the body due to spondylitis of spinal
cord. But "I have been coming back to the Ashram for the past
ten years and today I feel quite fit", he says.
Life
in the Ashram begins early, the alarm is sounded at 5 a.m. This
followed by a walk and yoga. Sun bath, herbal tea is made available
from 7:30 onwards. The treatment with the help of five natural
elements begins from 8:30 a.m. onwards, lunch break at 11 a.m. to 12
p.m. The toughest part now follows. All Ashramites are asked to
observe silence period from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The
latter half of the day is livened up by group discussion,
acupressure, hydrotherapy counseling etc. Dinner is served at 6
p.m., meditation at 9 .m., followed by bedtime at 9:30 p.m. Boarding
and lodging charged at the Ashram range from Rs 35 to Rs 175 per day
for general ward, single/double room and cottage. Generally guests
and attendants are not allowed unless advised by the doctor.
Mattress, bed sheets, blankets, pillows are provided to the patients.
The patients have to pay extra for the massage and canteen
facilities. The rush in the Ashram is usually during Mach to June and
the Ashram accommodates only 100 to 150 patient's at a time.
Though
the diet is prescribed according to each patient's needs it generally
includes juice, curd, buttermilk, milk, porridge and raw or boiled
vegetables. All food is prepared without salt, oil or spices. "There
is enough salt in natural food to fulfil the body's needs"' says
Dr. R.V. Nisal.
This
austere regime also wins over its converts. A typical tribute to the
Ashram came from a lady from Nagpur who had been there for the
treatment for obesity. "I used to swallow those boiled
vegetables and dream all the time of all my favourite food. When I
left Uruli Kanchan, I went straight to town to have a feast, but I
found I no longer felt like eating those samosas and ice-creams; the
sight of them made me sick.
Information
To
reach the Ashram one can take a Pune Municipal Transport (P.M.T) bus
(route No. 7) ply every 30 minutes from Swargate. One can reach Uruli
from Pune Junction. Trains depart from Pune junction to Uruli Kanchan
from 7:30 onwards.
Address:
Nisargopchar Gramsudhar Trust,
Uruli
Kanchan
Dist.
Pune ¤ 412202
Maharashtra
State. INDIA
Tel:
(020) 816298, 816230.
Fax-
816225.
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