Fish medicine administered to thousands

Hundreds of patients with lungs and breathing problems from across the State thronged the Exhibition grounds in Nampally to receive fish medicine on the concluding day of the  two-day `Mrugasira karte' fish mela here on Wednesday.

According to Bathini family insiders, thousands were administered the fish medicine during the two-day  `Mrugasirakarte’ festival. The family has been distributing the fish medicine for 163 years in the city now.

The disturbing factor is that the number of people seeking this traditional medicine has been dipping over the last few years. However, on Wednesday  there were quite a few faithfuls who turned up for the ‘fish prasadam'. Many  asthma patients from the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh,  Maharashtra  and Karnataka were seen at the Exhibition grounds to seek relief from their nagging asthmatic condition.

However, there were quite a few who turned up for the first time.  Anu Sharma was one of them. A Jammu resident, Sharma said she heard about the ‘prasadam' from a dispensary she has been visiting for the last six years.

"Although I am not sure whether the ‘prasadam' will cure the disease but after suffering for so long and with my three-year-old son also developing an allergy, I thought there is no harm trying it," says the mother of two.