Amit Vaidya is a cancer survivor who followed healthy living through yoga, meditation and consumption of panchgavya to control his condition. He spoke to Divya Kaushik
In 2006, he was diagnosed with gastric cancer. He underwent the treatment in USA and was officially in remission after three years. However, in 2011, his cancer relapsed and after eight months of chemotherapy and a clinical trial, his body stopped responding to the treatment.
The disease had further spread to his lungs and spine. Amit Vaidya, a PhD in Economics had almost given up hope and came to India to meet his extended family. While here, he read an article on how ayurveda and alternate therapies can help control some critical diseases.
“Since I was going through the treatment for a long time, there were some side effects of it that I was facing. After reading the article I decided to go for it thinking that if not good, it will not do any wrong to my body. I decided to follow it with faith and was curious to know how far this faith would take me. I visited a hospital in Gujarat that focusses on treatment through cow therapy and stayed there for over two months. That was the beginning of a discovery,” says Amit.
The first two months was all about getting used to consuming cow products like panchgavya (a group of derivatives from five elements obtained from a cow), meditation, yoga and a strict vegetarian diet. The results began to show in the first two months only. “I could feel the change in my body very early and I believe that was because of the schedule that I was following strictly.
It is said that regular use of panchgavya helps in purifying blood and strengthens the immune system. It also improves the blood circulation. In just a couple of months I could feel that my energy levels were improving. Getting used to consumingpanchgavya or a cowdung bath is not easy. But one has to take it strictly as a treatment and trust in it, that’s what I did and it showed results,” says Amit. After spending two months in Gujarat, Amit went to a village in Karnataka for another 14 months.
This time, he was aiming to discipline his body and get into a regime that will help drain impurities from his system. “I had to learn the system of living that would prove beneficial to my body. I used to get up at four in the morning, consume panchgavya, meditate, do yoga and exercise and would only eat a particular diet. It was a self-guided process with the aim to adapt my body to a healthy living,” he says.
Amit created a routine and followed it strictly for two years. “What started as a cure ended up being the treatment to my disease. Each health scan showed an improvement in the body and in two years time I was able to get rid of cancer completely,” says Amit, who is still following his regime that was more about healthy living.
Amit doesn’t consider his case as something extraordinary and feels that everyone can achieve it. “The condition is that you have to have faith in this alternate way of treatment. I have seen many getting disappointed and discontinuing the routine. No matter what, one should be determined to make it an everyday practice. Over time, one would realise how beneficial it is for the body,” says Amit, who has been consulting patients.