The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Reporter's Diary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 28, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Reporter's Diary

AYURVEDA IS an asset of Kerala. There has been a delay in recognising this reality owing to the ignorance about its worth. Of late, it has been acknowledged not only as a holistic system of treatment, but also as the saviour of the State in terms of external currency inflows. The route, of course, is linked to tourism. The linkage, as is widely believed, will be beneficial to both tourism and Ayurveda.

As various tourism projects have already started their association with Ayurveda, apprehensions are being aired from various quarters. All is not well with the so-called alliance, say several advocates of Ayurveda. They have every reason to believe so.

Massage centres have mushroomed in many places and several among them are said to be misusing the name of Ayurveda. Some of them situated in and around Kochi have been booked for conducting `unhealthy' activities.

This situation could be attributed to lack of adequate regulatory mechanism to control the erring centres. If such a situation is allowed to continue, it might ultimately spell doom to Ayurveda itself. But would official controls be the right course of action? This would have to be examined in detail. Doing massage or any other treatment without proper guidance from an Ayurvedic medical practitioner would result in more harm than good to the person under treatment. Hopefully, it is not too late to think about such action. In fact, some organisations engaged in Ayurvedic practices do demand it. It may be possible to find an effective solution within a reasonable period, though not within 100 days.

* * *

THE OFFICIAL policy of the present Government is that the police should have a humane face. Evidence of this could be found when the DIG, Ernakulam Range, R. Sreelekha, invited the media to brief them about the 35th Kerala Police Games and Athletic Meet 2004.

However, the mediapersons who reached the venue were surprised to find that nothing much has changed. To begin with, many mediapersons got no space to park their vehicles and then their entry to the venue was checked. Even though no entry passes were distributed, those at the gates asked for proof of accreditation.

Things were, however, sorted out when senior officers in the city intervened and let the scribes in. The DGP followed it up with a promise to inquire about the incident.

* * *

THE CITY will not forget Gyanesh Kumar that soon. Even after assuming office as Secretary to the State Government, Finance (Resources), Mr. Kumar had to return — this time to accept an award.

This year's award for `Man of Vision' instituted by the Kerala Chapter of The Indian Institute of Architects was presented to Mr. Kumar for conceptualising, initiating and completing 36 projects in 36 months — the period when he was the District Collector. His service should be a model for times to come, according to the IIA officials.

A rather lengthy CV of Mr. Kumar distributed to the media listed out projects like Goshree bridges, renovation of general hospital, restoration of the Durbar Hall Grounds and the Maharaja's College, National Renewable Energy Park, Royal Musical Walkway and the Cherai beach.

In his speech, Mr. Kumar said that Kochi would in the near future qualify as a `city of excellence'. As he was someone who set the ball rolling, few would question his right to make that statement.

By R. Ramabhadran Pillai and Anand Haridas

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