The Rediff Special /Anwar Alikhan

There are thousands of people who have tried the treatment and are convinced it's quite miraculous

In order to understand this concept, we must realise while there are many causes for an asthma condition -- such as allergies, genetics and infections -- a very important factor is psychosomatic.

An asthma attack is often triggered off by such things as stress, or by the very fear of an asthma attack. To quote a classic textbook case, there was a lady who was allergic to roses, and every time she was exposed to roses she'd get asthma. But gradually it was discovered that even plastic roses -- or even mere pictures of roses -- were enough to bring on an attack.

In cases like this, to put it very simply; since the cause is within the mind, any cure would necessarily have to be at that level itself. And that's why (the doctors said) just as in cases of faith-healing, here too we find a strong emphasis on the elements of mystery, ritual and belief: the strange experience of swallowing a live fish; the one particular day in an year one must wait for; the vast expectant crowds one sees... and so on. All of this adds up to a very powerful psychological experience and it works. While the yellow ayurvedic medicine may indeed play some part, the patient is cured. Essentially because he believes he is cured.

So, is that the final word on the fish cure? That it is probably a form of faith healing? Frankly, that is the way it began looking to me. But I thought I would try one more angle: talk to doctors who have been cured by it -- and see what they had to say.

I managed to locate a couple of junior doctors -- but they weren't exactly the types whose opinions I would greatly value. Then, finally, I tracked down a very well-known senior medical consultant in Bombay who had apparently taken the treatment. I made an appointment and went over.

Like any good doctor, he was very cautious in what he said. "From 1943 to 1951 I used to have severe asthma attacks. Then I heard about this fish treatment from a highly respected and very senior doctor who had been helped by it. I took the treatment for three years and it is my impression--" here he weighed his words out very carefully, "--that it is an effective treatment."

"After some time my asthma attacks stopped," He picked up an inhaler that was lying on his sidetable and held it up, "I still keep this thing handy. But I haven't used it in 30 years."

"Do you think the treatment was psychosomatic?" I asked him.

Again he was very cautious, very measured, in his reply. "I myself can't say how it works. You see, there are certain neurochemicals in the brain which control the pulmonary function -- and maybe this treatment somehow interacts with those neurochemicals, to prevent them from triggering asthma attacks. I don't know. All I can say is maybe. However, I do not believe that the cure is psychosomatic," he said.

So we were back to square two: how does the fish treatment work? As one of the doctors I interviewed said, "One can't really pass any judgement unless one takes up the phenomenon as a research project, and carries out a complete series of scientific, clinical studies on it. And that is perhaps what needs to be done."

Meanwhile, I suppose it's up to you to draw your own conclusion. After all, there are thousands of people over the years who have tried the treatment and are convinced it's quite miraculous. So if you suffer from asthma, give it a try. Who knows, you might find it to be something of a miracle yourself.

A FEW TIPS:

*Shivram Goud can be contacted at: 128, State Bank of India Colony, Gandhinagar, Kavadiguda, Hyderabad 500 038.

*If you're planning to take the treatment, we'd suggest you first verify the exact date on which Mrigasira Karti falls this year (it's always either on June 7 or 8). Make sure you get to Hyderabad a couple of days before and contact the Goud family. They can give you a free pass, which will mean you won't have to stand in the lengthy queues.

*Be careful: with the increasing popularity of the cure in recent years there are various practitioners who have jumped onto the bandwagon. Just for the record, the Goud family has the original cure.

Photographs, kind courtesy: The Taj magazine

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