Chemistry

Phukan had been relentless in his research into the medicinal properties of the local flora for several years. Since his return from England upon completion of doctoral work, he had been scouring the neighboring areas for any plants, and their roots, barks, seeds or fruits that were known to possess healing qualities. He had also been scouting the surrounding districts of the state for any local bez or medicine man that claimed abilities beyond the normal for their herbal potions. Dr. Phukan made extraction from plants or native drugs, so found, and injected them into the veins of caged monkeys that served as subjects of his pursuits that often verged on brink of pseudo-science. Around this time, newspapers all over India were agog with detailed accounts of the octogenarian Hindu leader Madan Mohan Malaviya’s claims that he had used Ayurveda to roll back the effect of aging. Of course, it could not be said with definiteness that Malaviya’s attempt at reversing the irreversible, the process of senescence that every mortal being experiences was anywhere near successful. But it was widely believed all over the country that there were lost secrets in the ancient Ayurveda which was complied over three thousand years ago. These secrets included instructions to prepare drugs to substantially erase the stamp of old age, and physically transform one from senility to the vitality of the youth, something that western medicine had not yet been able to achieve. Newspapers those days were also galore with advertisements of seemingly amazing drugs that claimed to rejuvenate the physical body and mind. Western educated scientists tended to dismiss these claims of Ayurveda or local medicine men as unsubstantiated and not tenable. However, it was well known that many of their colleagues in Europe and America were experimenting with drugs based on Ayurveda. The anecdote of Puru in the epic Mahabharat in which Puru displayed his unswerving respect for father Jajati by giving up own youth for father’s old age would not have been possible without the wealth of knowledge that Ayurveda had to offer.

Dr. Phukan had delved headlong into reinventing the drugs mentioned in Ayurveda and other Hindu scriptures. He often altered the proportions of the ingredients, and introduced new ones hoping to be lucky.

He needed subjects to test these drugs that he believed had the potential to add many years to human life. After a considerable search, he was able to locate an old man who willingly became a test subject. This gentleman had remained a life-long celibate. But, now, at an old age he longed to enjoy the bliss of wedded life. When contacted by Dr. Phukan and told that these drugs had the potential of bringing back to him the spring of youthfulness, he jumped at his fortune, and merrily offered to become a candidate for testing.

By another stroke of good luck, Dr. Phukan found a monk called Abhagiri who was reputedly versed in the medicinal aspects of Ayurveda and other Indian scriptures. Abhagiri who was originally from the state of Bihar, received patients and disciples who came from far and near to seek blessings and Ayurvedic treatment. Rumor had it that some of his potions worked like magic. Dr. Phukan imagined that pooling their expertise together will lead to some amazing results. He thought of presenting his results in international conferences and of perhaps even winning the prestigious Nobel prize.

Dr. Phukan and Abhagiri prepared the patient for several weeks of treatment. The doctor reassured the old man - “I do not expect money or anything of value from you in return for giving you back your youth. I don’t have my eyes set on your home, or the acres of your fertile farmland or any other property. My only goal is to be successful in my experiment, and roll back your years. That will be the greatest reward for me.”

The old man was overjoyed at the prospect of the getting back the long lost youth. Given the wealth he had managed to stow away over time and the somewhat respectable position that he now enjoyed in the village, he bemused to himself that it will only be a matter of time till he finds a young and beautiful bride. He would hold a gala wedding, and have children too. Things that had eluded him during his normal youth and relegated him to less of manhood in the eyes of the society would surely be his to enjoy this time around.

After long deliberations, the doctor and the monk planned to use ingredients and the quantities prescribed in a puthi, an old handwritten book that had been passed from generation to generation in Abhagiri’s family. Some of the pages of this puthi were torn. A few critical references to components that go into making of the drug and required quantities were missing or were illegible. The doctor and Abhagiri used their best guess-estimates and went ahead with their preparations. A few items mentioned in the puthi had become rare and were locally unavailable, so they agreed to use substitutes.

Abhagiri made two mixtures in separate stone pots for stone did not react with any chemicals. When the two portions were mixed, it created a visible reaction with a burst of thick white fume that moved away slowly. The patient was administered a small amount of the drug initially. He did not like its taste and twisted his facial muscles. He took only about three-quarters of the preparation that had quickly congealed into a thick white paste, and threw the rest on to the floor.

Dr. Phukan and Abhagiri were alarmed. They immediately remixed the medicine. The patient needed to consume the right amount of the mixture to avoid any negative side effects. The patient was given the medicine again, but once again he vomited some out.

For diet, the old man was prescribed ample amounts of fruits and milk. At noon, he ate some fruits and promptly threw up. Thus, not much of the miracle drug remained in his stomach on that faithful first day of treatment. The story more or less was repeated on the second day. The patient was administered a large but measured portion of the potion. However, he hardly retained any in his system - most of it was lost since he threw up like on the first day. The doctor and the monk, then, decided to lower the quantity of medicine.

Neither the doctor nor the monk knew that their patient was addicted to opium. The patient had not revealed that secret despite probing questions for he feared that if the doctor learned of this bad habit of his, he would not accepted for treatment. He, however, unknown to his benefactors, continued to consume small quantities of opium that he had brought along from home. After the first few days at the nursing home, the monotony of eating the same fruits became unbearable to the patient. He yearned for his favorite meal with rice. He was a downright lover of khar (a dish seasoned with alkali) and the homemade pickles like kahudi. Pretty soon he found his way out of this problem. He began bribing Dr. Phukan’s servants who quietly brought to him any delicacy that he wished for.

There was little change in the physical appearance of the patient during the first days of the experiment. However, after a fortnight of continuous administration of the Ayurvedic mixtures, it became apparent to the doctor and the monk that the medicine was beginning to work, that a miraculous metamorphosis was underway, and that it was happening at a pace more rapid than originally expected. The old patient was elated at the providential fortune that had befallen him. Before he came to Dr. Phukan’s nursing home, advanced age had cast its irreversible spell on him. He had lost much of the hair on his head and the rest of the body; he did not have any tooth left to chew anything hard; his skin had drooped and muscles become soft. What a transformation had occurred during two short weeks! The experiment had been successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams so far! The patient was starting to roll back the effect of old age- he had growths of hair on his head. A few little white teeth were beginning to beam out of his gums as they do in a baby; the muscles had mutated, and were becoming stiff and regaining vigor; and the skin that had sunk was becoming firm and smooth.

Abhagiri’s mood was ebullient, he contemplated the good fortune that would befall him now. Once the word of successful rejuvenation of the patient spread, he supposed that the rank and file of his disciples would swell, and they would contribute more generously to the coffers of their guru. The doctor thought that if the experiment worked well, and everything was pointing in that direction at the time, he would become famous not only in India but all over the world. He pondered that the Nobel Prize committee may even immortalize him with the highest award in the realm of science. The old patient who no longer seemed that old was rapidly shedding the outward as well as inner symptoms associated with old age, and becoming a young man full of virility. He started dreaming of the near future when his unmet wants and desires would surely be fulfilled.

The treatment continued for several more weeks. Dr. Phukan examined the patient thoroughly every day, and wrote copious notes. He took a different photograph of the patient every day to visually document the path of the patient’s regression in age, which was happening at a break-neck pace. The doctor planned to write up the results of the study with several pictures showing the dramatic changes, and to send them to many national and international medical associations.

At this point, the monk assumed that the success of the experiment was inevitable, and delegated the weighty responsibility of preparing the drugs to his assistant and a compounder who worked for the doctor. And like Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration, he began indulging himself in the bliss of opium smoking, sat cross-legged on a mat and often chanted ‘hara, hara, bom, bom’ in His praise.

Though the research was carried out secretively at Dr. Phukan’s private nursing home, the news of the amazing results leaked to the neighbors. Some of them wanted to see the lucky patient with their own eyes, but none was allowed into the patient’s ward.

There were seven days still left for the treatment to end as per planning. At that point, however, it seemed that the rejuvenation process was working far more effectively than had been anticipated. The patient had began to revert toward adolescence from the youth phase that he had earlier entered into. The doctor was alarmed, and told Abhagiri, “Babaji, let’s immediately stop the treatment. We want him to come out of the study as a youth. We do not want him to become an adolescent or a child.”

Abhagiri carefully examined the patient. “Doctor, I fully agree with you”- he uttered. “Let’s end the treatment now. Though human beings think fondly of their childhood, the memories of the youth are the most pleasant. Given a choice, a man would most likely want to get back to the prime days of youth, and not the dependent ways of adolescence or childhood. Even pre-pubescents dream of the fun-filled days of one’s twenties and thirties. I have seen so many juvenile boys, who can’t wait to shave for they think that such an action would enable them to break the laws of nature and would lead to growth of beard sooner than the nature intended. Of course, along with the beard they dream of the vigor of the youth. In any case, I am ecstatic with the results. This invention will make us immortals, doctor.”

...to be continued to next issues

by Nagendranarayn Choudhury [Translated from Assamese by Jukti Kalita]