The tailor who heals…
The tailor who heals…
Gopin murmu, a 42 years old
man, is from Jowharbill, Gossaigao, Assam. He may look an ordinary person but
he is man of great talent. Gopin was brought up in the same locality and he has
been doing some small odd job to sustain his family. Basically, Gopin is a
tailor and he has been stitching clothes for villagers. As Jowharbill is a Santhal
dominated village, the tribal did not stich a lot of clothes as they themselves
did not have enough to make their ends meet. Gopin was going to hard time and
his family was starving. He realized he needs to do something but he did not know
how?
NERSWN
the turning point in his life
Nerswn the Ngo has been actively
working in Joharbill. They had also started working on various other issues
like livelihood and sustainable agriculture. It was in one of the workshops
conducted by NERSWN he got his calling to be a nature healer. According to
Gopin he was part of a capacity building workshop of NERSWN and their the resource
person made them aware of the rich flora and fauna which existed right from the
beginning and we have been taking it for granted for many years. They also
spoke of various organic ways of farming which inspired him to understand the
nature better and to make use of it for healing. He had heard a lot about the
Ayurvedic medicines but he himself has been going to various allopathic doctors
who charged a lot of money and gave numerous medicines for healing which in
turn has been harmful. So he was inspired to explore more into the area of
herbal medicines.
Journey
from Tailor to doctor
Gopin had decided to discover
the natural wonders and to make a living from it. He has not received any
training in herbal medicine but he knew some benefits of various plants in the
surroundings. He spent 3 months day and night preparing the medicines. He tried
out a number of combinations and distributed them among his villagers who were
facing various health issues. He observes them carefully and kept modifying the
medicines till he got the perfect results. It took him six long months to get
it to the desired outcome but he kept going and improving his medicines. He has
not studied more than 4th std but his scientific mind kept him
going. He started preparing the medicines in small quantity and he gave to people
without charging anything from them. It did not take much time for him to be
the talk of the town as his medicines became an instant hit as they started
showing good results. He has been working day and night to get it all right and
he has been collecting various herbs and plants which have become rare now. He
is very happy with his new job as people treat him well and give him a lot of
respect. He has gone through a lot of hardship
as his own family members called him mad just wondering in deep forest looking
for rare herbs and they kept on criticizing him until he got his first T.B. patient cured
within few days. He himself was in great dilemma as he was not certain of the path
that he had chosen but it was NERSWN animators who kept on encouraging him and
they told him to keep going and today the whole village calls him life saver
doctor who serves the entire village with the pure intention of service and whatever
the people give him out of their own will is taken as his fees.
He also gets a unique
satisfaction by saving people’s lives. Today he does not get time to eat, his
day starts at 3 am in the morning. After finishing his work in the field, he
comes to his house and he starts making the medicines which will be required
for the people who come to take his advise as well as to get cure. According to
him, in a day he gets more than 20 patients coming from distance of 30-40 k.m.
as they have faith in him. He has been acknowledged by many and he tries to
keep the herbal medicines making method and techniques updated as the demand
and disease is taking a new shape. After asking him, what are your future plans…
he humbly responded saying., “I do not want to commercialize my mother earth, I
do not want to market my own mother in the market I respect her and she has
given me everything which I have now and I am fully satisfied. I do not wish to
be greedy” I was stunned to hear his response. I as a city dweller will never
understand the deep relation that the tribal have with mother nature. His
statement has increased my respect for him as well as for mother earth.
Hats off to Doctor Bipin Murmu
and hats off to NERSWN who kept encouraging
him and also guided him time to time. I feel the whole village has understood
the importance of herbal medicines and they have realized the healing effects
of mother earth which their fore fathers used to rely upon. Slowly the present
generation who had gone astray from natural healing ways are also coming back
to herbal medicines which in turn is an huge achievement in itself. I have
gained a lot talking to Dr. Bipin who has made me aware the numerous benefits of
nature and the healing touch that it has. So lets plunge more into nature and unravel
the mysteries of nature for rejuvenation, relaxation and healthy living.
Vivian lopes.
M2017dta 027.
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