I-SERVE NATIONAL SEMINAR - REPORT

[Guest guest]

*Two Day National Seminar on*

 

*“Traditional Indian Diets and Health Care”*

 

*at National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad*

 

*4th to 5th Feb 2010 - Report*

 

Jaya Guru Datta

 

We all know that Parama Pujya Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji, apart

from being an outstanding spiritual leader, is also a great medical

expert. Infact,

He was initiated and trained in this field by none other than Sage Agasthya

Himself. In the Kriya Yoga classes organized by Pujya Sri Swamiji we find a

lot of teachings on the dietary methodologies of the yogic lore, which are

drawn from the ancient Indian treasure of dietary systems. This being an

integral part of ancient vedic sciences, I-SERVE, a research institute which

came into existence due to the will of Pujya Sri Swamiji, has been studying

this area of science also since a few years and has been consulting many

experts of different disciplines connected with the subject. As a result of

this long drawn exercise, a National Seminar on this subject took place and

its brief report is being placed before you. Any advises for further

research in this area are welcome.

 

I-SERVE, a Hyderabad based Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas, in

collaboration with National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and Indian

Institute of History of Medicine (IIHM) (CCRAS) organized a two day National

Seminar on “Traditional Indian Diets And Health Care” from 4th Feb 2010 at

the Assembly Hall in NIN, Tarnaka, Hyderabad.

 

According to the ancient science of Ayurveda, ‘*food is the medicine’* if

taken in the right way. The holistic perspective of Ayurveda teaches us to

understand both positive and negative attributes of our diet. Ayurveda

doesn’t consider food as a mere concoction of nutrients but as a source of

energy to nurture both body and soul. Regional and seasonal variations as

well as individual nature are believed to determine our food eating

patterns. Ayurveda attaches special significance to the foods we eat, be it

daily foods or that eaten during festivals or ritual ceremonies.

 

 

To provide better and wholesome cure to the ailing, modern medicine is also

evaluating the impact of food, metabolism and other nutritional aspects

while treating diseases. Sadly, lack of knowledge on such lofty subject

enshrined with traditional wisdom is resulting in immense suffering and

plethora of illnesses among people. Sensing the need for meaningful

deliberations on this interesting subject, this two-day National Seminar is

being organized.

 

 

The formal inaugural session took place at 3 P.M on 4th February 2010, where

in Dr. V.M. Katoch, Secretary, Dept of Health Research, Govt. of India and

DG, ICMR, New Delhi was present as the Chief Guest and Sri. L.V.

Subrahmanyam I.A.S. Principal Secretary to Govt. of A.P. Dept. of Finance &

Planning was Special Guest. Dr.B.Sesikeran, Director, NIN gave the welcome

address. Later Prof. Kuppa Krishna Murthy, the Chairman & Managing Trustee

of I-SERVE briefed the gathering regarding the herculean task that is being

undertaken by the I-SERVE. This Hyderabad based centre of Excellence is

working on various aspects of Ayurveda and is committed to educate, promote

and enlighten people on the rich Ayurvedic principles and traditional wisdom

of the ancient science. Over 34 projects including 16 on the traditional

practices in Indian Medicine were undertaken by I-Serve since its inception

in 2004.

 

 

Revised version of I-SERVE website (www.serveveda.org) was inaugurated by

Dr.V.M.Katoch in this session. Dr. V.M. Katoch , in his inaugural address,

emphasized that there is no necessity of new evaluation of the age old, time

tested and result yielding traditional medicinal systems and dietary methods

of India. What is needed is to understand them properly , mould them to the

present conditions and to utilize them for the benefit of the society. This

is the responsibility and duty of the present day scientists, he said.

 

 

Sri L.V. Subrahmanyam, IAS, in his speech expressed happiness on the

research activities of I-SERVE, and said that it was astonishing that a

small NGO like I-SERVE is doing such a great work and a pioneer governmental

organization like NIN getting associated with I-SERVE and conducting this

seminar is good step forward for the well being of the society. A happy

blend of the modern and ancient scientific systems is the need of the hour and

only when we achieve it, Indian society can have real progress, he

emphasized.

 

 

Dr. J. Padmaja Rambabu, Organizing Secretary of the seminar spoke on the

objectives of the seminar. She said that the main objective of this

conference was to dwell on the importance of traditional Indian dietary

practices in the modern era. Dr. M.A. Virinchi, Organizing Secretary of

I-SERVE proposed vote of thanks. The technical sessions started at 10:30 am

with the Keynote address of Dr. V. Prakash, Director, CFTRI, Mysore.

 

The dignitaries and top class scientists who graced the occasion include Dr.

Gandikota Somayajulu, Atomic Scientist, Prof. K.Vijayasree, Osmania

University, Dr. Veerabhadram, Former Principal, Ayurvedic College, Warangal

etc.

 

In this two day seminar over 30 research papers on topics like “Indian

Dietary Habits, Nutritional Facts, Regional Diets” , “Ayurveda and Nature

Patya and Apatya Prevention and Curative Aspects”, “Malnutrition and

imbalanced Diets and Health aspects” , “Dietary Preventive and Curative

Aspects of Metabolic Disorders” ,”Dietary Aspects from Conceptions Stage to

Geriatric State” etc.

 

Research scholars from West Bengal(East), Gujarat(West), Kashmir and

Delhi(North), Kerala , Chennai, Bengalore, Andhra Pradesh (South) presented

their researches on the above themes. Expert paper presenters were drawn

from Ayurvedic, Allopathic, Homeopathic and Dietetic fields were properly

chosen by the organizers.

 

The two day deliberations came to an end with the Valedictory session at

5.00 P.M on 5th February, 2010. Dr.B.Sesikeran, Director, NIN, presided over

this session and Dr. Ratnakar, Director , Global Hospital, Hyderabad and a

prominent researcher in the field of medicine attended the session as Chief

Guest. Dr.C.V.Satyavathi, Former Director General ICMR, Dr. Kamala Krishna

Swamy and Dr. Sivakumar, both former Directors of NIN, Dr. D.C. Katoch,

representative from WHO, who chaired some of the earlier sessions were also

present in this session. The session started with the discussion on the

outcome of the two day deliberations. Many speakers expressed their opinions

and ideas on the shape and methodology of the future researches in the field

of traditional dietary systems. Dr. M.A. Virinchi, Organizing Secretary of

I-SERVE summed up the discussions and added that I-SERVE has outlined around

40 future projects in this area and appealed to the scientists and

scientific organizations like NIN, CFTRI etc. to encourage such projects

individually and collaboratively.

 

Dr. Ratnakar, in his eloquent valedictory address, briefly reviewed the

research scenarios in the fields of Ayurveda and Allopathy and ascertained

that there are some areas like patient examination, perfect pathology, new

discoveries etc., where the Allopathic system excels, whereas there are

other areas like cures for chronic diseases like fits, many syndromes, a

comprehensive examination of the patient, time tested nature friendly

methods etc., where the Ayurvedic system really excels. Infact, these two

wings of knowledge are like two arms of science and real medical science

progresses well only when these two arms work together in cooperation, he

declared. Elders present, like Dr.B.Sesikeran, Dr.C.V.Satyavathi, Prof.

K.V.Krishna Murty, welcomed his declaration.

The seminary finally came to a conclusion with the vote of thanks proposed

by Dr. J. Padmaja Rambabu, the organizing secretary of the seminar.