A woman who can barely sign her name, reels off the names of hundreds of medicinal herbs
Ten years ago, when the people of Village Sinkathiya, Mavaiya Block, Varanasi, elected Sukha (b. 1944) to attend a Mahila Samakhya training course on traditional medicines, little did they imagine that she would be Sukha Doctor to them very soon. At that time, Sukha was known only as trolley labourer Ramkishen’s wife. Today, she works tirelessly, tending to the health of men, women and children in her area.
Although Sukha can barely sign her name, she can knowledgeably reel off the complicated names of hundreds of medicinal herbs without a moment’s hesitation. She is adept at finding and processing these herbs, and then administering them in the right doses, to the hundreds of poor and unwell people in her village and several adjoining villages as well.
Everyone in the region — her colleagues in the Nari Sanjeevani Kendra (NSK), the villagers she tends to, and even doctors in the government hospital in the region — refers to her by the honorific “Sukha Doctor”.
In 1995, a training course on the use of traditional medicines changed not only Sukha’s life, but also that of her entire village. At the Mahila Samakhya (a government development programme) training course that Sukha attended in Haunty Godi in Bihar’s Ranchi district, she learnt the use of herbs for medicinal purposes. Since then, she has turned trainer herself, confidently imparting her knowledge to women from Mau, Pratapgadh, Chitrakoot, Mathur, Gorakhpur etc.
The village, which had practically no medical facilities and assigned very low priority to reproductive health, is today under Sukha Doctor’s care. Adept at finding and processing herbs, and then administering them in the right doses, Sukha’s cures for reproductive health problems, fever, stomach ailments and several other common ailments are almost legendary in the area.
In many villages in India, hospitals are too far, and even those who manage to reach these hospitals can rarely afford the cost of treatment. In these situations, traditional medicinal practices serve to protect people against a range of common illnesses. The preparation of traditional medicines are simple and often region-specific (and therefore easy to obtain).
Sukha uses natural materials and herbs for her medicines. These medicines are easy to access, cheap and available in plenty. The demand for Sukha Doctor’s medicines — and that of her colleagues Champa and Indu — has risen so much now that it is not possible for NSK to operate only at the two centres it previously had. (NSK runs health centres set up by village women.)
These centres have now been consolidated and camps are organized at various places on different days of the week, so that everyone can access the medicines. The women’s group is trying to further promote and popularize traditional medicines. They have created a streamlined process for producing the medicines. Different groups have been formed with assigned functions in production: one group gathers the herbs; another cleans the herbs; a third processes and divides them according to their use in different diseases; and a fourth packs the medicines.
Her calm and presence of mind make Sukha an ideal doctor. These qualities also stand her in good stead when she is dealing with other issues in the course of her work for the women’s group. Whether it is a disease she is facing, or a social problem, Sukha meets it head-on and with equanimity. She trusts her own courage and the strength of her colleagues.
Besides practising medicine, Sukha also keeps a sharp eye on all activities around her — whether it is taking pregnant women to the local health centre for their vaccination shots or ensuring that children get their polio drops, Sukha gently intervenes everywhere. In fact, even when the “Go to School” initiative was launched in her village, she ensured that the children in the village were duly admitted to school.
In Sukha’s area of work, the women’s group has a new vigour altogether. As long as the women were talking about their own rights they were not accepted into the mainstream completely. But now that the women are working on health, and affordable and accessible medicines, they have carved out a special place for themselves in the village social structure.
Looking back, even Sukha has trouble believing how far she’s come. She had to brave much resentment from the powerful people in her village initially. They were unhappy that a poor, Dalit (considered the lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy) woman should be practising medicine. Sukha, however, refused to give in to their intimidation tactics.
She also had trouble establishing her credentials as a true doctor. People had little faith in traditional medicines, and they would often approach her for a remedy quite late. Besides, for a long time, Sukha had to collect the herbs for her medicines on her own and also clean and prepare the medicines herself. This would take a long time and sap much of her strength.
But Sukha has been able to shake off many kinds of oppressions and discriminations to work tirelessly towards making the lives of countless others better. She and her family have also managed to escape the clutches of poverty.
Sukha belies her name (literally, dry) completely. This youthful (even at 61), dusky woman charms people with her talk even now.
By arrangement with Women’s Feature Service & Sangat
Ten years ago, when the people of Village Sinkathiya, Mavaiya Block, Varanasi, elected Sukha (b. 1944) to attend a Mahila Samakhya training course on traditional medicines, little did they imagine that she would be Sukha Doctor to them very soon. At that time, Sukha was known only as trolley labourer Ramkishen’s wife. Today, she works tirelessly, tending to the health of men, women and children in her area.
