The current arguments between Baba Ramdev and IMA are playing in a theater of absurdity. On the one hand is Ayurveda, globally credited with the first known surgery and whose practitioners left the child’s progress in womb carved in stone for generations to see a millennium back.
On the other hand, allopathy, whose practitioners till four or five centuries back were studying innards of animals to understand body parts and function, and for most of the problems, their solution was to bleed a patient by applying leeches.
Suffering from political suppression, burning of books, destruction of colleges, and slaughter of its practitioners, Ayurveda still survives a miracle and testament to the effectiveness of its medication in disease prevention and control. A faith in Ayurveda is a trust built over millenniums of cure and disease control.
Allopathy has received state support, liberally funded medical colleges, jobs, recognition for its practitioners, and global support. But the fact remains that this system is not based on cure but on keeping the disease in check with extensive medication, leaving a person dependent on medication. With significant research and a global market, this system has hugely improved quality of life and extended life spans.
Ayurveda needs resources to develop and possibly regain some of its lost knowledge. It has been vilified as quackery, denied research funds and jobs for its practitioners. This medication and treatment system needs validation from ‘the west ‘to be universally acceptable.
Like it or not, today’s validation of ‘ the west ‘starts from The United States, the global leader in opinion and trendsetter. Ayurveda needs to conquer the United States. It requires strategy, resources, and reach, all of which based on public information are with Baba Ramdev should he decide to do so.
Coming to the last part – the religion which is dragged in this discussion. Pope had declared the human body sacred and practice medicine and surgery off-limits a few centuries back. Therefore, most medical doctors were Jewish, and even today, a large part of elite doctors in the US are Jewish. They have no issues in a Hindu system of medication and treatment and will judge it on its merit. After all, Yoga is unabashedly Hindu and is mainstream now in the US and consequently the rest of the world.
Given the legal framework in the USA where a doctor needs to adhere to prescribed norms to avoid malpractice, Patanjali needs to take FDA approval for its medications, hold seminars and conferences. Everything needs marketing here, and its medicine must be marketed as well.
Once successful in the United States the people will benefit from this time-tested medication system, and the debate will be over once and forever with global recognition. It should also do wonders for the corporate bottom line by catering to the world market.
Win-Win for all.
