MANDALA
Homoeopathy to the rescue
Homoeopathy is the oldest established complementary and alternative system of medicine which has survived centuries. Not only has it effectively helped people combat and cure acute and chronic conditions, but it has also shown favourable trends with epidemics and infectious diseases like cholera, the Spanish Flu, diphtheria, dengue, and swine flu. So, can homoeopathy be used against the pandemic faced by the world right now?
The AYUSH ministry has recognised homoeopathic medicine as an effective integrated approach to boost immunity and thereby work as a preventive against COVID-19. Dr AK Arun, a public health scientist and national award-winning homoeopathic healer, and Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto, have talked positively about Dr Rajan Sankaran, a world-famous homoeopath from Mumbai, who, in the past few weeks, has successfully treated many COVID-19 patients in countries like Iran, Nepal, Romania, Bolivia, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
Turning to homoeopathy, the Rajasthan government also roped in more than 6,000 AYUSH doctors and compounders to assist the medical staff engaged in combating the pandemic. In Delhi’s AYUSH department, ayurvedic and homoeopathic medicines are being given to those who are coming to AYUSH medical centres with mild symptoms and also to some patients in containment zones who don’t have severe symptoms. The focus is on an integrated approach and also to see how our ancient wisdom can be validated in the context of contemporary realities.
Having been approved by the Drug Controller General of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research, AYUSH trials have begun to include studying and testing the efficacy of various homoeopathic medicines on COVID-19 patients in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Saurabh Kumar, a homoeopath from Agra, is set to experiment with a combination of homoeopathic pills on 100 COVID-19 patients, at Naiminath Homoeopathic Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre. “My team is looking to assess whether these medicines can prevent asymptomatic patients from turning symptomatic or help to stabilise those who are already struggling,” he said.
Since allopathy offers no cure so far, it is only reasonable to try other alternative therapies such as homoeopathy, which have no side-effects, to explore treatment for this pandemic.
For teachers, online is where the goldmine is!
Online training and learning has been growing for many years now. Top universities such as Stanford and Harvard have been offering online courses for some time. However, Covid-19 has injected new vigour into the demand as well as the supply of online workshops of all kinds. Spiritual workshops are no exception. Consequently, the training fraternity, teachers, gurus, and facilitators have responded to the situation positively. A number of workshops from self-help to personal growth, yoga, and holistic healing, and spiritual retreats are now being designed and delivered through online platforms. In fact, according to Learnworlds.com, the online learning trend is exploding and expected to reach $300 billion by 2025.
Today, when all of us are housebound, online workshops are trending high and the reasons are obvious. To attend them, one doesn’t have to travel anywhere. An individual can attend the workshop live or use the recording to attend as per their convenience. All they need is a quiet room and a good Internet connection. Technology has afforded us real freedom of choice, which saves not only time and energy but also money. Most online workshops are substantially cheaper than the ones organised in banquet halls and hotel facilities.
Zubin Mistry, a sound healer, says, “Online workshops are not as close to live workshops in delivery, but participation in them is increasing exponentially due to the facility of joining from home. I manage to give them 70 per cent of what they can get in a live workshop session. While I can accommodate only 25 to 28 people in live sessions, I have close to 600 people in my network across the globe. Through online workshops, I can manage 50 to 80 people and more, and this is just the beginning. As technology will improve, so will the number of people attending online sessions.”
Brig Bhasin, an author and leadership coach, says, “The same people I have been pursuing for months and years are now attending my online workshops happily. Infact, these people are joining the complete series of the online coaching sessions. It is a most welcome shift for us.”
Amrut Jadhav, India’s leading memory athlete, who conducts memory development workshops, completed his first 15 hours of online paid workshop spread over three days in May. He spent nothing and used only his credibility and reference to get 15 people. The people paid Rs. 3800 each for this workshop. Amrut left his telecom job last year and now only does workshops. This is the power of the online world; with some amount of marketing, credibility, and talent, you can create a career out of it.
In search of the silver lining
While the Covid-19 pandemic is sinking global economies and affecting all the sectors worldwide, Bhutan has found a good reason to rejoice and hope for a better future.
Bhutan is using the Covid-19 crisis to boost its agriculture. With the borders closing down to stop the spread of the virus, Bhutan’s food import industry has plummeted. However, the leaders of the country see the pandemic as an opportunity to boost Bhutan’s rich agriculture and wean the country off the expensive imports from neighbouring countries, after decades of unsuccessful attempts to promote self-sufficiency.
“The lockdown has given our farmers the opportunity to substitute a large portion of the country’s vegetable and grain requirements that are imported from outside. We take the Covid-19 pandemic as a blessing in disguise, and the pandemic has called for a test of sustainability,” highlighted Yeshey Penjor, Bhutan’s minister for agriculture.
In a press briefing at the end of March, Bhutan’s prime minister, Lotay Tshering, reiterated this point. “If we can give agriculture one earnest push today, we will see that many of our biggest problems have gone away. We will wake up to see that unemployment is no longer a national issue and we have enough to feed ourselves.”
Penjor urged the farmers to produce self-sufficient food as much as possible, without worrying about the market condition. To motivate the farmers, the Bhutanese government has planned to start a cottage and small industry (CSI) bank, which would provide loans at minimum or zero interest rates for land resurfacing and development support, and direct inputs such as seeds, electric fences, and technical support.
“Given the geopolitical situation in our region, investment in agriculture must be seen as an opportunity. Agriculture is an integral part of our culture, the foundation that supported the claims that Bhutan has always been an independent nation,” remarked Dorji Wangdi, the opposition spokesperson.
Radical steps are being taken to make Bhutan self-sufficient again. From promoting local products to encouraging organic farming, the small country is indeed leaving no stone unturned to re-establish itself as a self-sufficient, independent nation.