India is by far my favorite place to visit. I always have a lot of fun with my family, shopping, and site seeing. Mumbai is the first place I go to when I arrive in India, as I have some family there. This trip to India is different than my previous trips. This trip is for me to do some research on Ayurveda and perhaps coming to study here, either at a college or under a Vaidya (Ayurvedic physician). After spending a few days in Mumbai to get adjusted here, my first stop was Delhi.

In Delhi, I had two goals. Those were to meet Rajvaidya Brihaspati Dev Triguna and Dr. J.R. Raju. Fortunately, I was able to meet them both and meet others as well. Dr. Triguna is a very well known Vaidya and he is known for his expertise in pulse diagnosis and treatment. He has a very good success rate in treating all kinds of illnesses from colds to cancers. He is also known for his work with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Ever since I had first heard of him, I knew that I had to meet him. So, the first thing I did once I arrived in Delhi, was to go see him. I went to his clinic and saw that hundreds of people were waiting there to see him. In fact, most people have to wait a few days to see him and yet he sees about 300 to 400 people every day. I patiently awaited my turn, which luckily only turned out to be a 45 minute wait. I was impressed with his expertise and quickness. He took my pulse and basically said to me, “what are you doing here.” Only sick people come to visit him and here I was, a healthy individual who wanted to get his advice on further training in Ayurveda. He told me that he didn’t have time to talk to me right because other patients were waiting to see him, so he asked me to come back in the evening. In the evening, my mom and I went back and he sat with us for a few minutes and answered all my questions.

Then, my next goal was to go visit Vaidya J.R. Raju who works at the Maharishi Ayurveda Hospital in Delhi. He claims that he remembers every pulse that he has taken. I was also impressed by him…he was very warm and friendly. He took time out of his busy schedule to discuss everything that I had wanted to. From speaking with him and other Ayurvedic doctors and from the education I have received in Ayurveda, it is very true that you cannot just go to any school or college to learn Ayurveda. At most places, you only get parts of the knowledge, rather than the parts in terms of the whole. Treatment and herbs, as well as pulse diagnosis are just some of the parts that are important. It is also crucial to learn about the human anatomy and physiology, pathology, chemistry, biochemistry, and of course the Veda and Vedic Literature.