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Going slow
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Want to forget about all the cares of the city and heal your body and soul? Take a break and head for Soukya
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LUXURIOUS THERAPY Shirodhara is when the drip-drop of the oil slows down time
How long is half an hour? Considering that hours, days, weeks, months and years are always slipping through our fingers at the speed of light, we are liable to soon forget that smaller units of time add up to larger chunks.
Ajita of Soukya will tell you a great deal about the benefits of shirodhara, an ayurvedic therapy that allows medicated oil to slowly drip on your forehead and down your hair. But the treatment does something else if you are one of those lost in the city's unending rush hour. It allows you to count time by the drip-drop of the oil and remind yourself that half an hour has 30 minutes and each of those minutes have 60 seconds each.
In fact, the whole concept behind this holistic health centre at Whitefield, its founder-MD Isaac Mathai will tell you, is about urging people to take a break occasionally to rejuvenate themselves. Soukya follows an integrated system that incorporates ayurveda, allopathy, homeopathy, unani and so on. Yoga, acupressure, hydrotherapy and a whole range of other therapies are also thrown in for good measure in their health and rejuvenation programmes.
Dr. Mathai claims that while pampering centres that go by the name spa are a dime a dozen in and around Bangalore, Soukya is one of the few "real" health and healing spas. "In fact it's such an abused word, I would much rather call this a holistic health centre." He will also tell you that integrated medicine is the way the world is heading and India, with its vast wealth of medical knowledge of both the traditional and modern kind, should be leading the way.
While the aam janta, which doesn't have dollars to spare, may have remained a little distant from the whole logic, the crème-de-la-crème of the country (businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats... ) and the "better educated" western clientele are very impressed. Dr. Mathai points out that about 50 per cent of his clients come from New York alone partly because he practised there for years and partly because health consciousness is very high there. A quintessential New Yorker, he says, is one who never fails to carry a bottle of mineral water in hand. The fact that Soukya has its own organic farm, diary and herbal garden that provide for most of the centre's needs also hold a special appeal for the "educated" health tourist. Its "ideal distance" from the airport also works to its advantage, says Dr. Mathai.
Those heading to Soukya from Bangalore might complain, though, that the bad roads that lead to it swathe them in mud long before have their medicated mud bath. But a good distance from the city, Dr. Mathai will tell you, is mandatory for any genuine spa. "I am more worried about the city growing almost till the fence of Soukya!" He reminds you that New Yorkers who fly 18 hours in business class exclusively for a stay in Soukya tend not to complain about bad roads. And if Bangaloreans are, they are missing the point. He quotes a Malayalam proverb on that: "The jasmine in your own yard has no fragrance." For those who are enamoured by the fragrance but can't afford the dollar price tag, Dr. Mathai wants to start a hospital in Bangalore that runs on the principle of holistic healing.
But for now, Soukya does have a couple of packages for the upwardly mobile who are just about beginning to experience the downside of their plush lifestyle and can't do without an occasional reflexology for their RSI-affected wrists or a hot stone massage to calm their overstretched nerves. The centre's one-night-two-days gold package comes at Rs. 6,900 per person and three-day-two-night package comes at Rs. 15,900. Soukya also has a couple of summer-monsoon packages valid till July, which come with rejuvenating ayurvedic and naturopathy treatments.
For details on packages, call Soukya on 7945001/2/3/4 or email info@soukhya.com
B.S.
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