Narendranath is the guardian of a dying heritage. At his tiny shop in Fort Cochin, shrunken in the course of time with the dwindling number of visitors, he reigns as the devoted practitioner of an age-old system of medicine, a rich and valuable legacy left with him by his forefathers.

The shelves are filled with dried herbs, roots, seeds, barks and various other plant products which goes into the making of Ayurvedic medicines. There are bottles containing powders in various colours and hanging hairy roots. Most of the products are plucked by Narendranath from the locality. "The sourcing of medicines happens mostly in monsoon, the time when medicinal plants grow in abundance." says Narendranath.

People visit Narendranath's store with the prescription by a vaidyan (traditional practitioner of the Ayurvedic system of medicine) and he gives them the required ingredients in the right proportions for making the medicines. Traditionally, the prescription by a vaidyan is like a formula, listing the ingredients for a medical preparation in the required quantities, along with the method of preparation. After buying the ingredients, the patients make the medicines at home. "Earlier, before the market was flooded with ready-made ayurvedic medicines, we used to visit houses for preparing Kashayam (medicinal potion in Ayurveda.) But now, it is completely stopped." says Narendranath. As he observes, no body wants to take the trouble of preparing medicine at home when they have the ease and convenience of buying a bottle of the factory-made version of the same medicine. Still, in a much smaller way, he continues this invaluable practise by preparing the Karkidaka Kanji (medicinal soup made from a blend of rice and various herbs) every monsoon and selling it from his place.

Text: ROUTE COCHIN, Ananya Rajoo
Photos: ROUTE COCHIN,Sudhith Xavier