Meet Andolo Keche, a farmer by profession and a proud father of six daughters and a son. Around 25 years ago, he moved to a small town called Roing. This humble man also has another side to his life.
Andolo has been practicing traditional medicinal and healing therapies and treatments for nearly three decades. Its genesis traces its roots in Donli village, where Andolo was born and raised. This village is nestled deep in the mountains and forests of Lower Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. Its remoteness cuts it away from the rest of the world and deprives it of basic facilities such as roads, transportation, electricity, and health. Even for a regular kitchen item, one has to trek down to the nearest village, which is 25-30 km.
“It is self-explanatory that having access to modern medicine is out of the question in case of ill health. Thus, it has kept the villagers’ faith in their only resort, i.e., tried and tested traditionally practiced medicines. I am the third generation practicing such alternative treatments. I learnt it from my father, Erudu Keche, who had picked up the expertise and skills from his father. I remember, during my childhood, my father used those medicines to treat me whenever I fell sick. It created an interest in me. Growing up, I started learning more about medicinal plants and herbs, which evolved with time.”
Today, his healer’s kitty has many fascinating natural ingredients. Mishmi Teeta, also called Coptis Teeta, is one of the most popular medicinal herbs he has been widely using. It’s an endangered plant. Its rhizome is used as an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. To acquire this herb, he has to go to mountainous terrain. Locally known as Amrit Lata or Guduchi, it can cure wounds and cuts because of its antiseptic properties.
“Taxus Baccata is another plant I use for cancer treatment. However, this plant needs to be used in the right dosage under strict supervision. The hills and forests of Arunachal have many herbs and plants. I use over 100 herbs for treating my patients.”
His practice necessitated him to continue researching simultaneously. Especially in Roing, he observed a massive demand for traditional medicines. He felt the need to broaden his knowledge and reach. Thus, in 2010, he started his clinic called Idu-Mishmi Ayurvedic Clinic.
“I did a rough sketch of how to proceed with the steam healing. During my younger days, I worked as a mason and gained experience in house/room construction. With a few helpers, I could build a gas chamber. It’s a modest setup with two small rooms where the patient can sit. The rooms have holes for the gas to pass. I boil all the medicinal herbs together in a big container. A tube collects the steam and is connected to the two rooms. Before treating any patient, I tried it through self-experimenting.“
He has had patients suffering from Cancer, Paralysis, Jaundice, TB, and others. Most of them were the ones who got tired of using allopathy medicines and not receiving any relief. Andolo’s occupational commitment to farming forced him to discontinue his clinic for some years. But the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and followed by new variants of viruses and diseases, brought him back to his medicinal practice.
He compares allopathy and his treatment stream and says he treated his wife’s fever and headache several times using Mishmi Teeta. It has worked 100%. Allopathy medicines provide instant solutions, like curing a particular ailment faster than herbal medicines. The latter might take some time to act, but the result is much better as it treats the root cause, not the symptoms.
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Sharing a few most notable cases that he has handled, he informs:
“Almost seven years ago, Mr. Gite Linggi suffered a stroke due to which he was restricted to a wheelchair. He was on modern medicines, but it didn’t help. Slowly, over a course of more than two months, his lower limbs got dysfunctional. That is when he approached me. I put him on steam healing therapy for a month. No exaggeration, after taking it regularly for a week, he could move his limbs. His health started restoring. He gave up a few bad lifestyle habits like the consumption of alcohol and smoking. It was needed to get the benefit of steam healing. From the second month of the treatment, he was off the wheelchair. It amazed his family, friends and onlookers.”
For Andolo, it was a reaffirmation of the power of medicinal herbs and shrubs, which could cure even a patient who survived a massive cardiac stroke and paralysis.
Andolo participated in various workshops pan India during his engagement with an NGO. He also partook in several state-organized seminars highlighting the importance of traditional medicines. One such workshop conducted by the Odisha government made him meet many fellow traditional medicinal practitioners from across the country. It was an educating experience to know that each community, state, or society has its own unique, age-old treatment and medicines. However, he also realized the lack of awareness across the country.
While this alternative healing treatment has miraculous benefits, it doesn’t come easy for the practitioner.
Availability of the ingredients is one of the most significant concerns. Andolo has to travel far-off lands in rugged terrain to source the needed herbs, plants, and shrubs. Often, he has to hike and trek to almost unapproachable places where the ingredients are grown, and if needed, he has to stay there for a week. However, all his efforts feel rewarded when he witnesses his patients improve and become healthier.
Andolo is a man from the land of mountains. His heart bleeds to watch the mass destruction of forests and hills, annihilating the biodiversity to meet the land demand of an ever-increasing population. It takes a toll on the rare flora that breeds in remote locations.
“The medicines I use to cure people need specific habitat, climate, and weather to grow. Even if I want to grow them here in my garden, it’s impossible. For instance, medicine like Coptis Teeta is found only in the mountainous region. The plain area like Roing isn’t conducive. A new dam is coming up on the Dibang River. I can only hope for the best.“
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How receptive is the youth toward preserving their medical heritage? Does he intend to pass such enriched traditional knowledge to the next generation?
“I have made sure all my daughters are aware of these medicines. Long back, when we were too poor to afford medicine, I treated them using only these herbal therapies. I never took them to the hospital. I am proud to say that my eldest daughter has done many projects on ayurvedic medicinal plants during her school days. As of today, I can run my clinic due to the constant support of my daughters, Disha, Maya and Liya.”
In the meantime, if it’s not his daughters’ aim to be tribal healers or they want to focus on their life and dreams, he can’t ask them to be there for him all the time. His practice will become even more challenging as he grows older. Thus, he will be overwhelmed if people come forward to support him in his cause to keep this ancient healing therapy alive.
Andolo plans to run the clinic and help people understand the herbal way and its importance. He further adds that in this modern world, most people lack patience. For example, if one gets a headache, he/she wants it to stop immediately. No one has the time to understand the underlying issue triggering the headache.
Andolo has some health advice for people.
“Ayurveda or holistic herbal medicine teaches us to be patient, to know the root of the problem and create awareness that once it is identified, we can avoid it next time. It aims to restore health by pinpointing the underlying causes of the diseases and strives to uproot them. Meanwhile, it involves detoxifying, cleansing, strengthening body tissues and balancing the body, ensuring a complete cure.”
As Indians, we can do our bit to help traditional healers like Andolo Keche, who have kept our healing heritage alive. A little help can go a long way.