HEALTH

Swami says he has cure for all ailments
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 3
Swami Ram Dev does not preach the principles of sat, chit and anand, but thousands of people are flocking to him, seeking treatment for all kinds of diseases. Parkinson’s disease, obesity or blocked arteries — he claims to have an ayurvedic cure for all ailments.

“I am an upcharak and not a dharam shikshak. I learnt yoga and ayurveda through years of research in the Himalayas. I am putting my skills as an ayurvedic pracharak to use by helping out those suffering from diseases,” he says. His ayurvedic medicines are being sold at rates much lower than in the market. At least 15,000 persons from the region are attending his camp here.

High-profile politicians, bureaucrats and serving and retired members of the judiciary are visiting Amravati Enclave here for a special session with him. Other than giving a discourse on a healthy lifestyle, Swami Ram Dev demonstrates yogic kriyas in the mornings. His teams of eight vaids have set up office in Sector 4 here, besides one at Amravati Enclave, where patients are examined. Says his personal assistant Yashwant Bansal, “Over 500 persons come to Amravati Enclave in the evening every day.”

Swami Ram Dev says he is dedicated to the promotion of yoga and ayurveda. He says, “These ancient sciences are millions of years old. Though people have lost touch with these and moved to allopathy, these ancient sciences help to cure, while allopathy only suppresses the disease”. Substantiating his claim, he narrates cases of his patients who have been cured.

Lambasting allopathy, he says this Western science has failed to find cure for joint problems and spinal problems. “They recommend operations while I say these can be cured with ayurvedic methods. These operations only make the problem dormant for some time,” he claims.

“The benefits of yoga remained hidden because people began propagating only aasanas as yoga prachar. The way to perform pranayam was wrong and yoga came to be connected only with ascetics,” he says.

Yoga gaining popularity
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, June 3
Yoga is now seemed to be accepted by a majority of people. One could feel the difference with the presence of more than 10,000 persons at the ongoing yoga camp being conducted by Swami Ram Dev. Various institutions like the Art of Living, the Bhartiya Yog Sansthan, schools and private yoga trainers have been demonstrating yoga to people.

Jaspal Singh, who came specially from Jagraon in Punjab to attend the 10-day camp, said in their village homes, lifestyles had changed under the influence of the westernisation. He said he had attended earlier camp in Ludhiana in April last and since then was doing all kriyas, be it pranayam or other asanas.

Dr Rajpal Gulati, who have come from Patiala to attend the camp, said after watching the Swami on TV for the past four months, he had been regulary doing the ‘kapal bhati’ and few other asanas. Dr Gulati said he had tried many allopathic medicines for his cough and bronchitis problem but always it had aggravated. Now with the pranayam, he was feeling the improvement gradually.

Ms Sudesh Kumari of Chandigarh who has hydrated cysts in liver, said the regular practice of pranayam had improved her digestion. She is now aged 70 years. She learnt pranayam lessons from episodes on the Astha channel. She said the yoga was good for people of all ages.

Monika, a housewife from Chandigarh, said the best part of Yoga teaching by Swami Ramdev was that one starts getting up early in the morning, avoiding junk food, including non vegetarian.

24-hr CT scan at GMCH open to all
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 3
Under an innovative arrangement, a dual spiral CT scan machine installed at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, at a cost of nearly Rs 2 crore, has now become available to private patients also.

Mr Anuj Gupta, a spokesperson for the company which has installed the machine, said: “It has the highest resolution camera and is the most advanced scanning facility available in the city and its neighbouring areas. It has a special software for performing 3-D MPR, 3-D SSD, 3-D angio, non-invasive virtual endoscopy, virtual colonoscopy and bronchoscopes”.

Mr Gupta claimed that the scanning charges at the scanning centre of GMCH-32 were reasonable and there were no extra emergency charges.The scanning centre operates round the clock.