Today morning started like this. I woke up around 6:30am and made the cat steps (without making any sound so that my son doesn’t wake up) out of the bedroom. I have to check in to the Ayurvedic hospital for treatment (The procedure I need is called 'Basti' which is part of the Panchakarma Treatment) today. Check-in time is at 10:00am. The list of To Do’s before leaving are this,
Take bath
Pack the clothes
Pack the camera stuff.
Pack few books
Grab office laptop
Electronic accessories like charger, cable etc
Toiletries
Days at home in India are smoother than the days in Germany. I get by black tea on time, Joe’s breakfast is prepared before he wakes up, our breakfast is also prepared without my involvement in the kitchen - courtesy Pappa and Mummy ❤️ So all I had to factor in are the ones I mentioned in the list and also check if Anju’s work monitors and laptop are setup for her to do home office when I’m away.
After completing everything I mentioned above and helping Joe brush his tooth I was already 30 mins late already for check-in and received a call from the hospital. So with the luggage I hopped on to the passenger seat of Pappa’s car and reached the hospital. Greeted warmly by another Aswin (👋🏼The person who is like a nurse in the hospital) and I went to my room. This is the room where I am supposed to spend the next ten days. I have plans of doing some office work, some photo-video editing, some writing, reading books and learning some German other than getting treated here 😬. I was told that my treatment would start little later because I am late and hence the treatment for another person has started already. I was advised to take rest in the room until I will be called.
Okay let me tell you what I think that the treatment would look like. I would be provided with some oil massage on my knees and hands, may be the whole legs. Since I have a sensitive skin I may also get a mild treatment in the initial days. I would also get some physiotherapy equivalent exercises and some laxative to do an intestine cleansing on the final days of the treatment. Around 11:15am I heard a knock on the door and was instructed to take a towel and come to the treatment room. I took 2-3 mins to pee then, took my towel and mobile, locked the room and left to the treatment room. This room had couple of windows (closed with curtains), a long wooden table (later today I understood that it is actually made of some fiber and not wood) with places for collecting drips on two of its longest sides. This is completely made of wood (not really) and looked like an operating table (but in a good way 😬) made of shiny solid wood with some brass like metal finishings. And completing the room was another high closed wooden furniture (I don’t know what it is), a climbing stool and a door (resembling that of an attached bathroom).
Now there is another person also in the room who greeted me with a smile and introduced his name. He is along with the person from hospital who already greeted me earlier. Now instructions came. “You can remove your T-shirt” I did it without any fuss because I expected it. There was place for leaving my watch, mobile and room keys. Now a long and thin T shaped cloth was draped above my shots over my belly and the person said, “now drop your trousers”. I thought for a second but then proceeded. Now I am standing with my inner trunks with the T shaped cloth draped around thinking it was a wrong idea to have a white trunks as my underwear today. Because this is going to get discoloured soon. Now I heard “You can remove that too”. WHAT ??? 😂 I didn’t ask that but was thinking in my head without any expression and trying hard to hide the surprise look in the face. Then I loosed my trunk too. The hanging cloth was taken and then tied to the back while it passed through my butt cheeks. 😁 Here I’m standing there like a Sumo fighter. There is no better way of writing this, and there is no worst feeling than that thinking how the reader would imagine me standing there. But now I could recall my wife saying few days before that for a typical Ayurveda treatment this is how I am supposed to be dressed but I brushed it off thinking at least I would get a white mundu or towel and my underwear would be allowed beneath it. Just a note - I have never had a proper full body massage before in my life so if anyone had guessed this before, no marks for you 😏 After a regular blood pressure check-up Now I was asked to climb and lay down on my back on the wooden table. My doctor had already instructed the people in the room to keep the intensity to the minimum in few areas of my back and hands where I had some skin treatment few days back.
Then they started putting some warm powder with a little saw dust texture and started rubbing over my body in a gentle and long forward and back motion with their hands joint together to apply more pressure. To make me comfortable they started talking to me and we had some conversations about what I do, where I am from and family / work. They were happy when they learnt that I take photos for a hobby and have carried my camera with me. I told them that I can take their photos and share it with them in the coming days. I never felt uncomfortable lying there and on the contrary felt very relaxed. The procedure was done on both sides of the body and then later I was offered to take shower in the bathroom which was inside the room. Special care for my skin was given and a refreshing natural moisturising cream was applied on the affected areas (This was only because I had some skin treatment 2 days before). During the treatment the Doctor’s husband visited me and also had a friendly enquiry about how I’m feeling and getting know about each other talks. Since he is also a doctor he suggested some things to the people performing the procedure.
My doctor paid me a visit few minutes later in my room, even though it is a Sunday and suggested me to inform of any discomfort in advance. She also instructed me to drink plenty of water (min 3 litres a day). Lunch was supplied in the room. Food is vegetarian for the entire length of the stay. Lunch consisted of some salad, dal rice and some ladysfinger fries (The one I hate the most 😁, but tasted good that day) . During tea time a glass of green tea and a boiled banana was provided. Again it was served in the room directly. Later in the day around 5pm I had another procedure in the same room and this time it was a warm water bath all over the body. No new surprises this time 😉, but anyway I was looking forward to it now. The conversation was about movies 😇 and We agreed that my treatment in the morning would be at 10:00 and in the evening at 17:00 everyday unless there is any change in other patients schedule.
During the day I thought of writing my experience as a blog (which has been idle for months now). And between and after the treatments did some edits and was able to reach this paragraph which I’m writing now 😊 Dinner (3 dosa’s with coconut chutney) was served early around 7pm and I had enough time to speak to my wife and wind down for the night. Since I had not brought a blanket with me, I was skeptical of getting cold during the night with the Air conditioner running. However I was pleasantly surprised that it was a very comfortable sleep after a long time (sleeping without an AC in India). Breakfast (Puttu and Peas Curry with Tea) was served the next day morning in the room around 7:15 am. Overall the whole experience for me is pleasant here until now. I hope the reason for my visit to this place is fulfilled and I feel healthy and refreshed soon.
Please use the comments section below to reach out to me in case anyone needs more details about the treatment or the hospital.
July 2024
Chottanikkara, Kerala
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