One of the highlights of my travels was experiencing Tibetan medicine in Dharamsala. From the process of making an appointment to the healing medicines themselves...The journey begins early, we wake up at 5:30 AM and walk down into town bidding good morning to the night-cows as they finish their shift of tidying the streets. We aknowledge the street dogs that have become familiar faces in our month-long stay here. The sun is just beginning to rise and is slanting in a fresh way down the narrow alleys exposing the yet unperturbed crispness of the morning air. We duck down an inconspicuous dark corridor that opens up into a sunny walkway behind the buildings. Here there are others - Indians and westerners quietly sitting in the sun. We find a man and I give him my name, he puts me down at number 39 and instructs me to return at noon to get in line. As instructed I return at the given time and find a spot between 38 and 40 in the line. There are nearly 100 people crowded int he alley beneath the balconies of an apartment from which a dog is scolding us for being on his turf. I stand in line amidst all the others seeking treatment and at 2PM the man with the list begins to take roll. 50 spots are given each day to the first 50 people, no-shows are then given to the many bystanders hoping to get an appointment. Once my name is called I am given a ticket and a time to return the following day for my actual appointment and instructed to bring a urine sample.
The next day I make my way down to the same part of town, and down a darkened corridor I find several men waiting outside the doctor's office. It is a small door with a subtle sign with the doctor's name on it, blink and you miss it. Inside the small space many people are crowded in waiting for their appointment. I take a seat in the waiting room until my number is called. The same man who handled the list the prior day is there and calls mine and several other numbers at once and instructs us to follow him and the doctor to a sink. Dr. Yeshe is a monk now in his 80's and was formerly the private physician to His Holiness the Dalai Llama. He emerges from his office and gently shuffles ahead of us to the sink where he pours each of our various bottles of urine into a cup, stirring briefly and pouring it out. The man has been doing this so long that it seems he barely looks at or examines the specimen. He does all four in rapid succession and then retreats to his office. We return to our waiting spots to be called in. Inside the examination room I am greeted warmly and nearly wordlessly by Dr. Yeshe, he has me sit across from him, a translator sits next to me. He asks me what my primary ailments are as the doctor takes my pulses. He asks a few questions then speaks quickly with the translator who jots down my prescription. Above all he tells me " you need to be happier!". With that my appointment is done. I ask a few clarifying questions which are all answered in the beautifully simple and compassionate way that brings up my western way of over-complicating things. Just off the waiting area is a small window where 2 men are quickly taking and filling prescriptions. I am given 4 small bags of medicine with dietary and dosage instructions. Each of the bags contains what look like small bunny poops of various shades of brown. They are various combinations of herbs and minerals the exact ingredients are tough to find - believe me I tried.
Over the next month, my days become centered around honoring these medicines - and my health. Dutifully, each morning I began waking up at the same time each day - per the doctor's instructions - and getting some milk tea to take my bunny buttons - as we came to lovingly refer to them - half an hour prior to breakfast. I also incorporated the recommended dietary instructions by avoiding certain foods. After a month, the results were noticeable. Once plagued by intense endometrial pains prior to menstruation and cramping, I didn't even notice my moon coming nor did I have need of any pain meds.
I did find that sticking to the doctor's very simple orders of right timing of meals and abstaining from certain foods made a huge difference. The simplest things can really make the biggest difference.
Before leaving Dharamsala I also went to see another good doctor down at the Mentsee-Khang medical center. The second time I was better prepared to ask more questions about the diagnosis and diet.
TIPS:
- Come early to get in line as only the first 50 persons are given appointments. Bring a couple extra rupees to give the list attendant for his efforts.
- Be assertive in line, don't get bullied out of your spot
- Come prepared with your most pressing health questions to your appointment and ask questions
- If you are going to the Mentsee-Khang find out if they are open the day you want to go and if the doctor will be in. He travels frequently, and the office is closed on the frequent Indian holidays.
- You can catch a rickshaw - 80RPS from the main chowk. On a nice day the walk isn't too bad - all downhill about 40 mins.
