The aura of Ayurveda

January 9, 2006

Sreemoyee Piu Kundu

[ Tuesday, January 10, 2006 02:11:44 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

Baba Ramdev or not, holistic healing has the celebrities in its hold...

The clash between science and religion is legendary and the recent

controversy surrounding spiritual guru Baba Ramdev and CPM leader

Brinda Karat simply reinforces the eternal divide.

Baba Ramdev continues to deny that his company violated licensing and

labelling provisions by manufacturing medicines containing animal

parts and human bones as alleged by Karat.

This controversy apart, Mumbaiites, it seems, are increasingly

embracing Ayurveda and an alternate way of life.

'Ayurveda' is literally translated as the 'Knowledge of Life.' Says

actor Tulip Joshi, who's part of a spiritual cleansing outfit called

Kimaya incorporating Ayurvedic principles, "The controversy can't

shake the foundations of one of our oldest systems of health care,

dating back to the Vedic era."

Captain Vinod Nair, Kimaya's founder, feels, "As in Ayurveda, we too

encourage a four-level detoxifiction process involving one's physical,

spiritual, mental and emotional states to purify one's system. The

Ramdev incident hasn't affected the purpose of our organisation."

Be it the divas of the West, like singer Madonna or actor Kate

Winslet, or Mumbai celebs Rhea Pillai and Yash and Avanti Birla -

spirituality is certainly the cornerstone in their frenzied lives.

So is their faith likely to be deterred by such spats? "Not at all,"

firmly states Avanti, who along with her husband Yash is an ardent

follower of the Krishna Consciousness cult and the Art of Living.

The 'power' of yoga too is all-encompassing. Having completed a course

at the Bihar School of Yoga, legendary actor Waheeda Rahman, once

stated that it is yoga which 'keeps her agile all day.'

But with tradition acquiring a 'glam' tag, are we beginning to see

its dilution?

Opines yoga expert Bharat Thakur, "India lacks qualified practitioners

of alternate medicine and a scientific research structure which has

led to the emergence of so many God men. There's more to Ayurveda than

mere pranayams and kriyas."

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