Who Will Speak for Ayurveda?

During the first wave of CoViD 19 a person called me up with a proposal for manufacturing Ayurvedic hand sanitiser. The gentleman was not having any medical background and asked me some questions like, "what is Ayurveda" and "who is the owner of this Ayurveda". He actually wanted to ask who regulates Ayurvedic drug licensing procedure. I enjoyed his words. I still remember the early days of my medical studies. I learnt that, antibiotic drug kills bacteria so we get relief from disease. Once I was expressing my knowledge before my non-medical sister, she asked me an unexpected question like, what happens with those dead bacteria? I was a 1st year student then and got confused! Really, nobody asked me this question before nor even I asked my teacher, but there was an answer which my teachers explained in later days. What I mean to say is we sometimes face some innocent questions from people which we need to know but not ever think of them unless somebody asks.

Lets ask that innocent question again, "what is Ayurveda". A number of answers come, an Indian system of medicine, holistic medical science, complimentary medicine, herbal medicine, kitchen remedies, a lucrative topic for research, a product with good saleability in Indian market, unscientific & placebo medical science etc.

Time has come to find out the answer and express them emphatically in public. If Ayurveda is an unscientific and placebo medical science then why drug license is issued for Ayurvedic medicines, why it is not banned yet, why instead of making people aware about its placebo and unscientific character big commercial houses are promoting it and no protest is visible, why the scientists around the world are extensively exploring Ayurveda? When an Ayurvedic doctor advises Giloy, Ashvagandha and Haridra, they become unscientific and placebo but if it becomes extract of Tinospora, Withania and Curcuma, they become scientific; why is it so? When an Ayurvedic doctor prescribes these, some people raise eyebrows and come forward to comment about drug interaction, adversities, toxicities, clinical trials and what not; but the same class of people go to public media with their googled knowledge and explain benefits of these. Many times I have noticed that, people say use of latex of Snuhi for treatment of piles unscientific but the same class uses Euphorbia extract with exemplary enthusiasm. Example of these impostures are not scarce.

I have also noticed that the products, be it a medicine, a cosmetic, a food supplement, eyeliner, toothpaste, hair oil, hair dye and what not if comes with a tag Ayurveda, Ayush, Ayur or even Veda are sold like anything. I doubt if any consumer ever be judgemental about the safety, efficacy and adversities of these products or ever even think of consulting an Ayurvedic doctor before using it.

We must understand that, though the herbs and medicinal plants are used as raw materials of Ayurvedic drugs, individually they might not always be considered as drug. If we want to buy TMT bars we visit to some retail or wholesale outlet not to the iron mine, similarly if we need to take Ayurvedic medicine we should visit a qualified Ayurvedic doctor's clinic, get it prescribed and buy it from Ayurvedic medicine shop. Roaming around the source plant, picking up some of its parts and chewing them might not serve the purpose. Somebody may think chewing of plant parts is Ayurveda but the truth is something else.

I often ask myself "who represents Ayurveda in the society". Again a number of answers come, an Ayurvedic professional - a researcher, a doctor; a religious guru, a politician, a bureaucrat or Tom Dick and Harry.

Anybody who loves and knows Ayurveda can patronise and talk about it; but shouldn't we ask for expert opinion about the science from a qualified Ayurvedic doctor? I have a question in my mind that how may times we see the owner of a pharmaceutical house explaining medical matters in public and scientific forums? We see stalwart doctors, senior professors, eminent scientists and such type of personalities; then why it is different in Ayurveda? Unauthorised persons are getting entry in Ayurvedic fraternity and becoming our spokes person. We want to see stalwart Ayurvedic doctors, senior Ayurvedic professors and eminent scientist in the field of Ayurvedic research as our spokes person. This will have positive impact on public mind and the scientific communities, because these communities do not believe in loose talks and tall claims.

Cow is another hot topic nowadays. There is a trend to mean Ayurveda and Cow as synonymous. Some people are irrationally active and vocal about Cow products including urine and Ayurveda. Well, I personally believe that anything in this universe can be used as medicine if scientifically studied and researched. Our science is so advanced now that we can convert sewage water to potable water. Water in the dirty countryside canal can be transformed to clean water and used for irrigation. Then why cow urine can't be converted to its purest form and be used as ingredient of medicine? If a poisonous chemical can be converted to a life-saving drug then whats wrong with cow urine? Actually, the learned people know that there is no harm in searching for medicine in any source but some people with malign interest are always ready to distort the fact.

At this point of time I prefer to quote the line of a song of famous movie Amar Prem starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore "Kuch toh log kahenge logon ka kaam hai kahana,......".

I would like to appeal to the ailing humanity to stop listening to these bekar ki baaton and consult an Ayurvedic doctor for Ayurvedic treatment of your disease including CoViD 19.