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Ancient influence
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Ancient influence

The deeper causes of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which allowed the British to seize total control, were borne out of a fear that native customs, religions, and social structures would be lost. Yet Hastings' belief that he had found an ancient civilisation on a par with Greece or Rome is now widely accepted. Astronomy, architecture, philosophy and the ancient Sanskrit writing confirmed for him the richness of India's heritage.

In fact the ancient Greeks – the forefathers of Western civilisation – borrowed heavily from India. It is charted that many of the Greek philosophers travelled East for inspiration and guidance. And the mystical parallels between the two cultures are too close and too frequent to be purely coincidental. Indigenous Indian healthcare sciences such as Ayurveda and Siddha remain startlingly relevant today. The folk medicines were suppressed by Muslim invasions in the 11th and 12th centuries and later British colonisation but India's cultural resilience proved stronger than those defeated mutineers ever dared dream.

Recognition of India's medical advances made a breakthrough in 1949 when the British Heart Journal reported that the plant Rauvolfia Serpentina was 'the wonder drug of India'. Swiss researchers later isolated reserpine from the plant root and established it as a universally used anti-hypertensive and sedative.

These ancient healthcare systems, which are based on natural medicinal plants and herbs, have struck a chord among today's generation as an increasingly popular alternative to modern medical drugs. Ayurveda even holds the key to some cures not yet found in Western medicine. Yoga and the Kama Sutra are further examples of ancient Hindu practice now widely adopted in the West.

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