Shubhra Krishan - Essential Ayurveda: What It Is and What It Can Do for You

New World Library
14 Pamaron Way
Novato, California 94949

Copyright 2003 by Shubhra Krishan

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Edited by Georgia A. Hughes and Katharine Farnam Conolly

Front cover design by Mary Beth Salmon

Text design and typography by Tona Pearce Myers

The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken.

Grateful acknowledgment is given to Gopi Eberle and Mari Gayatri Stein for use of the yoga illustrations in

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Krishan, Shubhra, 1966

Essential ayurveda : what it is & what it can do for you / by Shubhra Krishan.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Medicine, Ayurvedic. I. Title.
R605 .K725 2003
615.53dc21

First Printing, February 2003

ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5

Printed in Canada on acid-free, partially recycled paper

Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West

10 9 8 7 6 5

F irst and foremost, I have my mother to thank for raising me to believe in myself and always putting my needs before her own. How truly she lives up to her name Mamta, which means motherly love.

I am also deeply grateful to my brother, Sachin, for his youd-better-write-a-book admonitions that finally worked; my husband, Hemant, for being my friend and unflattering critic; my son, Harshvardhan, and my dearest friends, Shirin, Chetna, Bena, Prita, and Sylvia, for filling my life with their affection; Vasu Nargundkar for her tips, advice, guidance, and tremendous support throughout the writing of this book; Vaidya Ramakant Mishra for sharing with me his infinite Ayurvedic wisdom; Bob Rose for his insights on yoga, and his generosity with resource material; Georgia Hughes for lifting my proposal off the slush pile, giving me this chance, and encouraging me throughout the writing of this book; and Katie Farnam Conolly for her incisive editing, kind words, and infinite patience.

A Boeing 747 rises off the runway at Londons Gatwick Airport. Gazing down at the rapidly diminishing carpet of cool green meadows, I feel my eyes mist over. It has been an exhilarating English summer, spent among beloved friends.

By contrast, walking through the hallway of New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport is like swimming through a custard of melted sun. The heat threatens to liquefy my eyeballs inside their sockets. Every nerve in my skull is dissolving. But, ah, it is so good to be back home.

In the airport lounge, my mother wraps her soft arms around me, and I can smell mustard oil and curry leaves in her hair. Curry and rice yum! My stomach rumbles happily in anticipation of the wonderful lunch awaiting me at my mothers home.

Each time I think back to that lunch, my heart fills with gratitude. Of course it was delicious, warm, welcoming. But what made it unforgettable was that it changed my life.

We had just sat down to lunch when the doorbell rang. An elderly man stood at the door, wearing a cotton kurta-pajama and an affable smile. My father introduced him as Vaidya Divakar Sharma, our new neighbor. Vaidya Sharma had stopped by to give my mother an herbal formulation for her cough, but at our insistence he stayed for lunch.

I was, of course, familiar with the word vaidya. It comes from the Sanskrit word vid, or knowledge, and means one who knows. I knew that Ayurvedic physicians were called vaidyas, but I had never met one before.

Over lunch, the vaidya remarked I looked more than exhausted from my journey; I looked unwell. You look like you need some hydration therapy were his exact words. Really, I smiled politely, helping myself to another ladleful of curry.

By evening, I was decidedly ill: fever, shivering, abdominal cramps, and a horrible burning sensation in my urine. I rushed to the nearest hospital, and they diagnosed me with acute urinary tract infection.

The doctor advised me to stay off coffee and spices, and to start a seven-day course of Norfloxacin. And, yes, Drink lots of water, he said.