Kailali, 3 Nov: In Kalari Village Municipality-5, Pavera, 65-year-old Ramdas Kathariya’s home is, as usual, crowded with patients since early morning. Some hold his hand for support, some lean on sticks, and some arrive by ambulance. In the eyes of everyone who comes here, one can see a desperate hope to return home cured.
Everyone in the village affectionately addresses Kathariya as “Ramdas Doctor.” But he is neither a doctor nor a certified physician. He only received a formal education up to class two. However, he possesses an incredible skill in his hands, with which he has been curing countless people suffering from bone dislocations, nerve compressions, and muscle-related ailments.
People with broken bones, pinched nerves, or pain from displaced muscles come to him. He identifies the patient’s problem simply by feeling with his hands. Just by touch, he says, “This bone has shifted, this nerve is pinched.” Then he begins the treatment. There is no exact statistic on how many patients he has cured to date.
A Skill Honed, Not Inherited
This skill of his was not obtained by mere chance. His grandfather was a famous healer in the village. During his childhood, watching his grandfather’s healing art closely, he developed a deep interest in it. His grandfather would make him sit beside him while treating patients’ bones and sometimes even have him feel the patients with his own hands. It was through this process that the skill settled into his hands. After his grandfather’s passing, to ensure this skill didn’t get lost within the family, he practiced continuously. That very skill has now become his identity.
For over 40 years, he has been serving many using this skill. Over a hundred patients visit his home daily. Some patients are those who did not recover even after receiving treatment in hospitals.
Kathariya’s treatment style is also simple. He has no medicine, nor any modern equipment. His hands, skill, and experience are his only tools. He treats patients by feeling the affected area, applying balanced pressure, and carefully aligning nerves and bones. Patients feel immediate relief after his treatment. For him, curing patients is not a business but a responsibility. Therefore, he does not set a fixed fee for his treatment. Patients pay as per their capacity. He accepts it with thanks.
Bhagilal Chaudhary from Bhajani shares his experience, “My wife had been suffering from a pinched nerve problem for 12 years. We took her to many hospitals; she didn’t get better. Finally, after coming to Ramdas, she was completely cured.” There are numerous examples in every village of people he has treated. There are plenty of instances of people who couldn’t stand, sit, or walk, coming to him and returning cured.
For treatment, he usually uses local materials he prepares himself. Sometimes, he also gets necessary materials bought from medical stores. He mentions that most patients coming to him for treatment are from weak economic backgrounds. For him, treating such patients is his duty. “I don’t want money, I want satisfaction,” he says, “After treatment, when the patient says ‘I am fine now,’ that is my greatest happiness.”
He wishes for the future generation to learn his skill. He did teach some local youth, but they did not practice regularly. He says, “Now I want someone to learn this skill with dedication and patience, so that even after me, many can benefit from it.”
