This is a Muslim area of town and this makes a visible difference - the women's dress and the Halal butcher amongst others. I catch this delivery of chickens on the back of a motorcycle in front of the latter. The Oxford School (sic) is a well advertised Muslim educational institution along this road.
In the doctor's office, the blood results have been delivered and all fears of lurking medical conditions have been allayed. I am prescribed a
certain number of brown liquids as medicine - and I am to undergo three different sorts of treatments: Nasyam, Abyangham and Kizhi EVERY DAY for 7 days.
This sounds wonderful until a) I undergo them and fully appreciate these are not all particularly pleasant b) I realise the full extent of the time commitment (4 hours a day) c) I am informed that I cannot wash my hair for a whole week!
On the PLUS side, I remind myself that this is precisely what I had always intended to do while in Kerala - to find out exactly what Ayurveda was all about and whether it would solve some of my deep seated health issues. I surrender to the system and begin the journey.
The therapists who actually handle me are kind and have a little English, so I cope not too badly. However the fact remains, it is QUITE embarrassing to remove all your
clothes in front of strangers and pretend it is the most natural thing in the world!
Thank God I am no stranger to "acting". Part of me wants to burst out laughing and the other part of me feels like I would rather be somewhere else. I find closing my eyes helps me live with the contrast of being naked when everyone else is wearing a sari and an apron!
Pictured Right: Dr. Reva, Priya and Ambika and the panchakarma bed...
At the end of the four hours, I spend an inordinate amount of time washing all the oil off my skin and begin to feel the awfulness of having quite a lot of oil in my hair that I am not allowed to wash out. Uggh!
Home by auto by doctor's orders. Apparently I am in a weakened state and need plenty of rest!
I humour her, though I don't feel weak at all.
In my absence, another volunteer has arrived: Cara, from Germany. Of Vietnamese extraction, Cara speaks English and has come for a journalism posting. I introduce myself and we have a little chat but Babu and I have to rush out to an appointment. We have agreed to accompany Sr. Mercy and her "side" when they meet the new lawyer. We are quite a large crowd and we all squeeze into quite a small office. The talk is mostly in Malayalam language but I get the gist of it all. Advocate Murli is an interesting chap and he listens well, asking good questions. He is conversant with the laws governing charitable societies and makes some good points. We all feel we are in the right hands, and we have Advocate Sudheer to thank for this. Having been briefed by us on Tuesday, he is present today and summarises our case for Murli, saving everyone's time. Murli says he will use him as his second. The meeting has gone well and we all leave feeling elated.
Back home to regroup - this evening the excitement is that Alexis is returning from his last few days at Varkala Beach and the medical posting at SNEHA. He is leaving for the UK tomorrow at the crack of dawn and we are all going out for a farewell dinner. I suggest we go to the rooftop at the Hotel Pankaj. Nice view and nice food. Good conversation - we get to know Cara a bit better - we are going to miss Alexis' wonderful way of including everyone in the chat and asking thoughtful intelligent questions. Sadly, I don't think to take a picture of this gathering!
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