10.12 a.m.

Its time to take gastronomic tour of the ashram kitchen. Crisp salads made from garden fresh vegetables , wafer thin chapatis and soft freshly made jaggery with liberal dollops of home made ghee is a luscious sacchrine delight. With our hunger well satiated , we move on to the next destination : The living quarters.

The tragedy : On our way, one of our colleagues notices a quaint bell. Curiosity getting the better of him , he rings it. "You shouldn't have rung that bell. It indicated the lunch hour!" chides our tour guide. But the damage is already done. Heards of eager patients are migrating towards the ashram kitchen. It is a virtual exodus !

1.25 p.m. Its Siesta time

The whole ashram bears a deserted look. Everything has come to a grinding halt and silence reigns supreme. Life in the ashram which at present is on the 'pause' mode will switch to 'paly' mode only at 3 p.m. As the human engines guzzle 'Kadha' (a potent concotion prepared by boiling lemon grass, tulsi leaves, milk and jaggery ) they will rev-up and accelerate into activity.

"Naturopathy belives in the activity called total inactivity. Especially, in the afternoon. After consuming food, blood is diverted from the rest of the body to the stomach and intestines. If one engages in the activity after fod blood will get rediverted to the body. This will upset digestion. Any irregularity of digestion reflects on the whole body as a spectrum of diseases right from pimples to gastric ulcers ! So the concept of an afternoon siesta must….I repeat must be incoporated in our daily regimen ." informs Dr. Jitendra Arya, the Chief Medical officer of the ashram. He adds, "Drinking a lot of water to flush out toxin and fastening are other important concepts of Naturopathy. The objective feeling of hunger should be looked at every objectively. One should always listen to body language and body intelligence……………

Realisation 4 : Of all the vices hunger is unsurmountable.

5.35 p.m. : The hasty retreat

Finally we walk into a restaurant. Our host guides us to a nearby table. With such close proximity to the Nisargopchar Ashram business must be considerably slight, In fact, its quite the contrary .The hotel owner reveals, and further explains, "you can't keep people hungry for long. Most survive the regimen at the Ashram for a few days. Then during their afternoon walks, they all make a beeline for my hotel and gorge themselves!"