𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐄
- Madhukar Dama
- Oct 6
- 12 min read
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𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆
We are the cleanest generation ever — and the sickest too.
We spray disinfectants on vegetables, scrub our hands till they peel, wipe the table with antibacterial wipes, and fear a speck of dirt as if it were a demon.
Our soaps promise “99.9% germ-free” skin, and our homes smell like hospitals. Yet we suffer from allergies, gut disorders, anxiety, and fatigue.
This is the story of how our obsession with cleanliness went so far that we began 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐩 to regain health.
It’s not a joke. It’s a prescription. It’s real. And it’s expensive.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌
For decades, we believed that to be modern meant to be sterile.
Children stopped playing in mud. Fruits were waxed. Milk was boiled till dead. Food was microwaved till soulless.
The invisible bacteria that once shaped our strength were killed in the name of safety.
We built fortresses against germs — not realizing we were also walling ourselves off from life.
Inside our spotless homes, our guts turned lonely. The trillions of bacteria that once lived with us — digesting food, making vitamins, calming inflammation — began to die.
We didn’t call it “sterile living.”
We called it “progress.”
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐀: 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘
Every human carries a vast, invisible universe inside — a city of 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬 living in harmony with us.
They are not dirt; they are citizens. Together, they are called the 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚 or 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞.
Let’s take a walk through this invisible city:
𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡: Microbes begin digestion, protect gums, and guard the entry gate. Constant antiseptic mouthwash burns them away, inviting ulcers and bad breath.
𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧: Millions of bacteria form a living shield that prevents infections. Overuse of antibacterial soaps destroys this army — leading to acne, eczema, and sensitivity.
𝐆𝐮𝐭: The capital city — home to nearly 𝟒𝟎 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬, more than our total human cells. They digest complex food, produce vitamins, control metabolism, and even shape emotions through the gut-brain connection.
𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐬: Gentle colonies maintain balance and resist allergens. Their loss brings asthma and inflammation.
𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬: In women, Lactobacillus guards the ecosystem. Chemical washes and antibiotics wipe it out — causing infections and fertility issues.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭: Each region has its own microbiome police force, guarding the borders.
Together, they weigh about 𝟏.𝟓 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 — roughly the same as your brain.
They are your 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, influencing digestion, immunity, and emotion.
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𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐄
When this inner world is destroyed — by antibiotics, sterile food, and chemical cleaning — the body begins to fall apart.
The good bacteria vanish, harmful ones multiply, and chaos begins.
Modern medicine gives names to this chaos:
𝐈𝐁𝐒 — because the gut lost its peacekeepers.
𝐎𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 — because sugar-regulating microbes disappeared.
𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 — because serotonin-making bacteria were wiped out.
𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐚 — because the immune system, untrained by microbes, became oversensitive.
𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 like acne and eczema — because surface bacteria that balanced oil and pH are gone.
So the diseases that fill hospitals today are not random.
They are simply 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦.
When we killed these microscopic citizens, we also killed our inner democracy — and now we import new citizens through capsules.
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𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐒: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐀
Our everyday “clean habits” have turned into slow weapons against our microbes:
𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐬: Used obsessively, they destroy even the helpful bacteria that teach immunity self-control — leading to allergies and autoimmune disorders.
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝: Every preservative or stabilizer kills a few thousand microbial species. Shelf life for food means a shorter life for microbes — and for us.
𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫: Safe but sterile. Unlike natural water, it carries no microbial or mineral wisdom.
𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬: Overprescribed, they burn microbial forests inside our gut. The body recovers slowly — sometimes never fully.
𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐭: We stopped touching soil, feeding cows, or walking barefoot. We separated ourselves from nature, forgetting that nature built our immunity.
We sterilized everything except our suffering.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐄
Then came the cure that felt like a prank from the universe —
𝐅𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐅𝐌𝐓), politely called 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 or 𝐆𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 in India.
The idea?
Take stool from a healthy person, process it, freeze it, and pack it into capsules.
Swallow it — and wait for borrowed bacteria to rebuild your inner garden.
It’s real medicine now, approved for some infections like Clostridioides difficile, and being studied for everything from autism to depression.
In simple words — 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄
In India, the therapy is already the new fascination among the urban elite.
Luxury wellness centers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi now offer “𝐠𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬” that cost anywhere from ₹𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐨 ₹𝟐 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐡 per course.
Of course, nobody calls it “poop.”
It’s “microbial restoration.” It’s packaged in sterile labs with lavender-scented brochures.
The same crowd that once refused to eat curd left out overnight is now paying lakhs to eat bacteria from a stranger’s intestine.
There’s a poetic justice to that — and a quiet tragedy too.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀
Our ancestors didn’t need capsules to restore bacteria.
They lived among animals, touched soil, ate fermented foods, and shared ecosystems.
Every bite, every touch, every breath was a silent handshake with microbes.
A child who played in mud was not “dirty” — he was becoming immune.
Pickles, curd, and fermented grains were not ancient recipes — they were living laboratories.
Now we kill every germ, sterilize every fruit, and then spend fortunes trying to bring the same bacteria back in capsules.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐘
We live in an age where:
We drink bottled water but forget the taste of springs.
We fear bacteria in the soil but swallow bacteria in capsules.
We kill microbes in food and then buy probiotics to replace them.
We avoid dirt but pay dearly for a “microbial detox.”
The poop capsule is not just a medical invention — it is a 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫.
It shows how far we have drifted from the natural order,
how desperately we are trying to buy back what nature once gave for free.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍
Clean is good. Sterile is dead.
A sterile life is not a safe life — it is a slow disease.
We need soil under our nails, real food on our plates, bacteria in our guts, and nature in our blood.
A little dirt won’t kill us. It might just save us.
Our body was never designed for perfumes and antibacterial wipes.
It was designed for coexistence — not domination — of the microbial world.
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𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄: 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊
The cure doesn’t have to come in a capsule.
It can come from a 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐝, a 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞, a 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥, or simply 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬.
It’s free, it’s ancient, and it works.
Health is not found in a sterile lab; it’s found in a living world.
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𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
The 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐞 is the final irony of civilization —
we cleaned so much that we now eat what we threw away.
We wanted perfection. We got emptiness.
We wanted cleanliness. We got sterility.
We wanted control. We lost harmony.
𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫.
𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 — 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬?
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𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐄 — 𝐀 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐑. 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐇𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄: 𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐘𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐃
It was just after sunrise when the car stopped near the mud path leading to Dr. Madhukar Dama’s off-grid homestead at Yelmadagi, a small settlement close to Chimmanchod. The four travellers from Hyderabad looked tired but relieved to step out of the air-conditioned vehicle. The morning air was cool and smelled faintly of wet earth and neem.
A pair of young voices called from behind the bamboo fence. “You’ve come for Appa?” It was Adhya and Anju, barefoot and smiling. They opened the simple gate, gesturing them in. “Please keep your phones switched off,” Adhya added politely, “Appa doesn’t like screens here.”
The guests nodded. Inside the small compound, everything looked alive — the soil, the trees, even the sunlight felt softer. A small mud hut served as the kitchen, and from it drifted the strong, bitter scent of Mother Simarouba Kashaya.
They were asked to sit on mats laid under the large tamarind tree. A man sat already there — lean, calm, wrapped in a simple cotton shawl. Dr. Madhukar Dama greeted them with a quiet smile. He didn’t rise, nor did he rush. His silence itself felt like an invitation.
Savitri, his wife, walked in from the kitchen, carrying a tray with small earthen cups. She handed each one a cup of the dark Kashaya, saying softly, “Sip slowly. It’s bitter, but it cleans the insides.”
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒
There were four of them:
Mrs. Neela Raman, 42, an IT professional from Hyderabad. Her two children suffered from allergies and stomach troubles.
Dr. Asha Reddy, 28, a young MBBS doctor, curious and confused about the rise of gut-related diseases.
Kiran Rao, 36, a wellness coach who marketed detox diets online.
Ramesh, 63, a retired farmer who had tagged along when he heard “a doctor who doesn’t charge money” lived off the road near Chimmanchod.
The four had travelled through the night, arguing quietly in the car about the absurdity of what they were coming for — a talk about “poop capsules.”
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄
For a while, no one spoke. They sipped the bitter drink. Birds filled the silence. Madhukar finally looked up, studying each of them with slow eyes.
“You all came from Hyderabad?”
“Yes,” Neela replied first. “We left last night.”
He nodded, still listening. “Then you have already done the hardest part — leaving the city before sunrise.”
The quiet warmth in his tone dissolved their stiffness.
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟏: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
Neela spoke first, almost with guilt. “My children keep falling sick, doctor. I keep everything clean — their bottles, toys, beds, hands — everything is sanitized. Still, they get allergies, stomach pain, even skin rashes. The doctors said maybe they need something called ‘microbiome therapy.’ Someone told me about... poop capsules.”
Madhukar didn’t answer immediately. He stirred the soil near his seat with a twig and said softly,
“When did your children last play in the mud?”
Neela looked startled. “I don’t allow them to. It’s full of germs.”
He looked up gently. “Maybe that’s what they’re hungry for.”
The others smiled faintly. The farmer, Ramesh, chuckled under his breath.
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟐: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐒
Dr. Asha leaned forward. “Sir, I’m a doctor myself. In college, we were taught to fight bacteria, not feed them. But now, everything is changing — we’re told these microbes are actually friends. Even the idea of transplanting stool from a healthy person sounds... scientific but strange.”
Madhukar smiled faintly. “You learned medicine in a world that had forgotten balance. We made bacteria our enemies, then realized we can’t live without them. So we try to hire them back — in capsules.”
Asha nodded quietly. “That’s exactly how it feels.”
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟑: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐔𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀
Kiran, the wellness influencer, spoke confidently. “Doctor, I promote these poop capsules on my channel. My clients swear by them. It’s clean, lab-tested, and safe — not like the old methods. Of course, it’s expensive — about one and a half lakh for the course.”
Madhukar looked at him calmly. “So, we destroy nature and then sell its fragments back as health. Do you know what that means?”
Kiran hesitated. “Progress?”
Madhukar smiled gently. “No. It means we’ve become the middlemen between man and life.”
Silence. The birds chirped again.
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟒: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑
Ramesh spoke slowly. “When I worked in my fields, I used to eat sitting on the ground. Sometimes without washing my hands. I never fell sick. We ate curd, pickles, whatever grew that season.”
Madhukar nodded. “And now?”
“Now my son in Hyderabad boils even milk twice, filters water four times, and still keeps coughing.”
“That’s what happens,” Madhukar said, “when fear replaces relationship. Cleanliness became fear. Fear became culture.”
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄
Madhukar picked up a handful of soil and let it slip through his fingers. “This soil has more living beings than the city has people. Every pinch of this is a world — making, digesting, healing, balancing. The same world exists inside your gut. We destroyed it with chemicals, sterilizers, refined foods, and antibiotics. Now, we want to rebuild it through capsules made from another person’s waste.”
Dr. Asha asked softly, “Is it wrong then?”
“Not wrong,” he said, “but unnecessary — for most. The real treatment is to stop killing the world inside you.”
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𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟔: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘
Neela looked at her cup. “Doctor, we spent sixty thousand on tests. The capsules cost more. But I was ready to buy them if it helps.”
Madhukar shook his head. “Purity always costs because it’s artificial. Nature doesn’t sell dirt; she gives it freely. You only have to stop fighting it.”
Ramesh chuckled again. “My wife never needed a capsule. She just ate what the cow ate.”
The group laughed, the tension easing a little.
---
𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟕: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
Madhukar’s tone softened further. “You don’t need poop therapy. You need life therapy.”
He turned to Neela. “Let your children get dirty again. Let their food smell of soil. Give them real hunger, not schedule hunger.”
Then to Asha: “Teach medicine again — but this time, with humility. Microbes are wiser than our formulas.”
To Kiran: “If you sell health, sell honesty with it. Sell connection, not capsules.”
And to Ramesh: “Never forget to remind the city that you exist — because you are its lost immune system.”
---
𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝟖: 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄
The wind rustled the tamarind leaves. Savitri came with a small basket of guavas and handed one to each visitor. “From our garden,” she said.
Madhukar stood up slowly. “Health is not in capsules,” he said quietly. “It’s in contact. The more we isolate from nature, the more we decay inside.”
As they prepared to leave, he gave them each a small bottle of castor oil and a packet of Mother Simarouba Kashaya.
“These will help your gut remember what life feels like,” he said.
---
𝐃𝐑. 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐇𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀’𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒
Before they left, he added gently — almost as if summing up a lifetime of learning:
“Stop eating milk, maida, sugar, and refined oil. Don’t pop pills for every pain. Minimise white rice and wheat. Eat jowar, ragi, millets, and all vegetables and fruits grown locally and seasonally. Stay active daily — walk, play, or do yoga outdoors under the sun. Aim to sweat. Allow cheat meals sometimes, but cook traditionally. Eat heavy foods like meat sparingly. Use fermented foods like buttermilk every day. Don’t use refrigerators; fresh food grows here every day of the year. Eat only when you’re hungry. Eat dinner early. And once every fifteen days, practice Ekadashi fasting.
Also, take a castor oil bath on Amavasya and Purnima — twice a month. Let the body breathe through the skin. And have Mother Simarouba Kashaya every night before sleep — the last thing you take in your body.
If someone is unwell, the Kashaya can be taken more frequently and in higher doses until balance returns.”
---
𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄
As the four visitors walked back toward the car, Adhya and Anju waved from the gate. The road curved away between fields of young ragi.
Neela turned back once, the taste of bitter Kashaya still on her tongue, and said quietly, “Maybe health was never lost. We just stopped touching it.”
Madhukar, still sitting under the tamarind tree, whispered to himself, “And when touch returns, healing begins.”
---
---
𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐄 — 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄
by 𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚
You are too clean, my friend.
Your hands smell like lemon,
your floor smells like the inside of a hospital,
your child smells like a disinfectant ad.
You live in a bottle —
sealed, air-purified,
sterilized to safety,
and you wonder why your body has become
a lonely laboratory.
You call it progress,
I call it loneliness.
You removed soil from your nails
and microbes from your meals,
and now you pay to eat someone else’s bacteria
in a capsule that costs more
than the cow you stopped milking.
You killed the world inside you
to keep your hands clean.
You bleached your food,
filtered your water,
and your gut now cries
for a drop of dirt.
You think you are healthy
because you smell like nothing.
But even rot is part of life.
Even smell has its wisdom.
You call it hygiene.
I call it exile.
---
I see you buying probiotic jars
with English labels.
I see your doctor prescribing antibiotics
for a throat that only needed rest.
I see your child coughing in an air-conditioned room
that never sees sunlight.
You fear a touch of rain,
you wipe the sweat too soon,
you wash your vegetables
until they forget they were grown.
You cook in silence
and eat in fear.
You feed your mouth,
but starve your microbes.
---
So here’s what I’ll tell you,
not as cure, but as correction —
Let your child eat with muddy fingers sometimes.
Let your tongue taste pickles that ferment.
Let your sweat dry under the sun.
Let your hands smell like onions and soap,
not sanitizer.
Don’t refrigerate your courage.
Eat what grows near you,
what dies soon,
what changes with the season.
Walk until you sweat.
Sleep before midnight.
Listen to hunger before you listen to time.
Let food rot on the plate before you rot inside.
---
Throw your vitamin tablets in the bin,
and go walk barefoot on real ground.
Your immunity isn’t sold in pharmacies;
it waits under your feet.
Don’t worship white rice;
eat the brown, the coarse, the forgotten grains.
Eat ragi, jowar, millets —
the food that your grandparents
ate without needing capsules.
Stop sterilizing your life.
Live it instead.
---
And when you fall ill —
don’t rush for pills.
First ask your body,
“What did I do wrong?”
Massage your body with castor oil
on Amavasya and Purnima.
Let the pores speak.
Let the skin breathe again.
Let your sweat be your signature.
Drink Mother Simarouba Kashaya every night
as the last thing before bed.
Let it burn your tongue
and heal your silence.
If you are diseased,
take more —
not out of fear,
but out of faith in nature’s rhythm.
---
You, the modern monk of cleanliness,
don’t need more capsules.
You need less control.
Your gut doesn’t need medicine,
it needs memory.
Memory of soil.
Memory of decay.
Memory of connection.
You don’t need a transplant.
You need to replant yourself —
back into life.
---
Your house smells of disinfectant.
Mine smells of tamarind and turmeric.
Yours shines.
Mine breathes.
You choose control.
I choose contact.
And between those two,
lies the thin invisible bridge
called health.
---
Now go —
wash your mind, not your hands.
Unlearn the fear of dirt.
Touch the world that made you.
And next time you open your palm,
look closely —
life is still waiting there,
in the lines of dust
you’ve been trying so hard to clean away.
---
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