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Health and Society in
Bengal
According to Ayurveda, body is compiled of five elements. Wind, bile and mucus are the main elements of the body, and irregularity in any one of these leads to illness. While, western science feels that Ayurveda is based on some strange theories without substantially explaining knowledge about the body, physiology, disease and pathology. The author argues that Ayurveda is an indigenous shastra where the cost of learning is abysmally low. Moreover, it prescribes locally available and cheap medicines. If people are encouraged to withdraw from this system, they would be deprived of a useful system of medicine. A section, "Revival to National Physical Health", lists the factors why Indian population has a frail body and a shorter lifespan in comparison to the Western population. The book argues that it is mainly due to natural or local factors and pollution-inducing factors. While it is difficult to eliminate the local factors such as climate, temperature and humidity, the pollution or harmful practices that make the physique weak and fragile can easily be controlled through individual will and reforms in social norms. Some such changes advised are restriction on child marriages, multiple marriages, improper food habits, lack of physical exercise, alcoholism, masturbation and nocturnal pollution, and indiscriminate coital indulgence. A Hungarian named Coroli from a study of 24,000 people arrived at some important conclusions. He says the strongest children are born to fathers between 25-40 years of age and mothers less than 35 years of age. In all other groups, the offspring are likely to be weak. A section on "sexuality and sexual relations" argue that since ancient times it is perceived that sexual relations are harmful to health and do not contribute to the preservation of health or bodily strength in any way. For example, if men don’t have sperms and women do not have eggs, it is not detrimental to their health but heart, liver, brain, etc., are the protected areas of body. However, in the modern view of sexuality, sexual identity is decided through considerations of the type of desire, inclination, the act of sex, the nature of the objects of desire and the nature of desire itself. On the basis of these, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, narcissism, sado-masochism, etc., are established as sexual identities. A section on "public health and communicable diseases" deals with the spread of epidemics such as bubonic plague, small pox, cholera, etc. It highlights the importance of personal hygiene comprising of physical cleanliness, dress, household and household items cleanliness, drains cleanliness, collection of household refuse, importance of fresh items of food consumption, disposal of food residue, use of disinfectants and isolation of patients. The last section deals with the development of medical education in Bengal, besides listing some of the impediments to the progress of medical science in Bengal. Few impediments listed are poverty and economic hardship, lack of real learning and right motivation among the native practitioners, lack of unity and sympathy among different types of practitioners, poverty and ignorance of the people, and the static nature of Indians as against the dynamism of the Europeans.
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