Dr. D. B. Roka, Ayurved.

Kathmandu is not so good for health. The streets are filled with cars and motorbikes, coughing out heavy fumes, unpaved streets raise so much dust that sometimes at night it becomes like a fog. The rivers run thick with waste, and little tiny creatures swim in the tap water, awaiting a healthy host.

Last time we were in India, one such little creature caught a ride in Deborah's lower intestine, hunkered down and started a family. We didn't know his name until recently, when he was introduced to us as Mr. Giardia Lambia. Deborah is not happy with her tenant, and she aims to evict him.

With such aim in mind, we visited Naradevi. Naradevi is a little neighborhood in Kathmandu that is known for its Ayurvedic Medical College and hospital. Along the street next to the hospital have sprung up numerous small pharmacies, specializing in both Ayurvedic and Allopathic medical treatment. After asking around a little bit, we went to Makalu Ayurvedic Pharma, and scheduled a consultation with Dr. D.B. Roka, B.A.M.S. (Lko, India) M.D. (BHU, India), Kayachikitsa (Internal Medicine).

The doctor’s office was in back of the pharmacy, through a humid dank and stinky dungeon (watch your head) and up a tiny staircase. The smiling doctor welcomed us into his tiny office, and gave Deborah an examination (I decided not to tell Deb about the good-sized rat that scurried across the floor during her exam). In his peculiar broken English, he asked Deb about symptoms, and suggested that we pursue a lab test. So Deb produced a specimen and carried it to the tiny little patho lab across the street, where we paid the 40 rupee fee ($0.56), and a half hour later, we were provided with a result, which we brought back to Dr Roka. After some deliberation, he wrote his prescriptions in messy hindi script (seems that some things are universal).

Then downstairs to the Pharma, the affable gentleman shopkeeper dutifully mixed our prescription up in the mortar and pestle. Deb was given instructions to take this one twice daily after food, and that one five minutes later, this one for 6 days, and that one for a month. The shopkeeper then wrote us a bill for 1131 rupees (mind you, that includes the doctor’s fee of NRs 200 ($2.81)), and we went on our merry healthy way.

We’ll be checking back with the Doctor before we go. After all, what’s another 200 rupees in life?