As a culture, we are probably as well-known for giving Ayurveda and Yoga to the world, as we are for the Kamasutra.
Just think about your mother who told you to rub your feet with mustard oil to dispel that raging fever. Or that aunt who recommended that you have a mixture of honey and garlic for a sore throat.
Right from our ancient texts to our grandmother’s trusted home remedies, witch doctors, the famous ‘ear-cleaners’ or the shady ‘doctors’ who promise an abortion in under 100 rupees and even our habit of self-medication, we have had our unique tryst with unique health practices.
After all, what is Indian medicine without its eccentricity and absurdity?
Enter Medicine Corner, an initiative of Britain’s Wellcome Collection, a global health charity, that aims to explore just that.
The charity is on a journey across three Indian cities – Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi – exhibiting India’s “rich plurality of cultures of medicine, healing and well-being” from ancient to modern times.
Ratan Vaswani, Project Head, Medicine CornerThe exhibition doesn’t attempt to survey the long, glorious history of medicine in India. Nor does it articulate a thesis about the present or future of health care in India’s riotously diverse, fast-evolving society. The exhibition as a whole is an invitation to look beyond the generic locations, at actual homes, streets, shrines, clinics; indeed anywhere and everywhere that we strive to stay well.
Get a glimpse of what Medicine Corner explores here:
The centrepiece of their project is the Mumbai exhibition Tabiyat – Medicine and Healing in India which takes visitors through the spiritual and analytical models of how Indians have treated the human body through the ages.
The other two exhibitions are called ‘Jeevanchakra’ (in Kolkata) and B.L.O.T-Trick or Treat (in Delhi) - all through January to March.
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