By Rina Tripathi

In his early years, N.K. Padmanabhan Vaidyar learnt ayurveda from ancient manuscripts handed down by the great masters. Today, at his clinic in Cochin, India, he claims to cure lethal diseases like hepatitis

His gentle, child-like face somehow assures one of healing and recovery. The doctor tells me the trees around the clinic bear flowers and fruits throughout the year. Strange but true.

I've heard of the wonder drug Kamilari. "Can you really cure hepatitis?" I ask.

"Yes, all liver diseases including hepatitis can be cured," says N.K.P. Vaidyar, popularly called Vaidyan. "We have tried our herbal cures for palliative treatment of AIDS too and the results are quite satisfying."

His son proffers a bundle of clinical reports. I am amazed to find that each progressive report records a decrease in Bilirubin count till the case of hepatitis B is rendered negative. Similarly, jaundice—with no cure in allopathy—is reportedly cured with Kamilari in a few days.

"We migrated from Sri Lanka. Our ancestors were physicians of the Maharaja of Kochi. They read the scriptures and made medicines, mostly decoctions of medicinal plants, giving them to the villagers free of cost."

He claims that all current ailments are mentioned in the scriptures with their remedies. "In fact, 15,000 herbs are mentioned in the scriptures of which 850 are used commonly." Vaidyan grows 250-350 herbs in his garden and is constantly in search of new herbs. His research has led to the discovery of herbal medicines for all types of stones, diabetes, cholesterol and even hair fall. He further claims that even AIDS patients have shown marked reduction in virulence with his treatment and some are leading healthier lives.

According to Vaidyan: "Ayurveda restores or creates dharma while allopathy creates karma by supplying what is missing." He cites the example of the pancreas—its dharma is to produce insulin. If there's a malfunction, in allopathy insulin is administered (karma), whereas ayurveda rejuvenates the pancreas (restoring its dharma of producing insulin).

Vaidyan's attention is now focused on hepatitis. WHO puts the number of the infected in India at 46.5 million (one in twenty). Two million are dying every year from hepatitis, which is many times more virulent than HIV. Moreover, the virus lies dormant for many years and carriers may unknowingly keep transferring it to others. The virus causes jaundice, followed by cirrhosis of the liver and even liver cancer. While jaundice and cirrhosis have been cured with the help of 107 herbs researched by Vaidyan, liver cancer—especially in its advanced stage—is still a challenge.

Vaidyan laments that most cancer patients come to him when it is too late. With over a thousand patients under treatment and a success rate of 90 per cent, hope shines bright. The treatment is inexpensive with a package of Kamilari and Hepin that Vaidyan uses after studying the quantitative report. This is done to determine the strength of the virus and the duration of the treatment, which depends on the age and health of the patient, and costs Rs 2,000 per month.

Besides, one has to follow a strict diet, avoiding jackfruit, roots like colocasia, fried fish and meat.