Thorough Cleanse

The nature wellness clinic of Vedary in Mumbai deploys ancient healing wisdom. Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi experiences a much-needed reboot of body and mind.

DURING MY ACUPUNCTURE treatment at Vedary—perhaps the finest wellness clinic in Mumbai—the traditional Chinese medicine specialist, Dr Afzal, told me about hijama, an ancient technique of cupping and blood-letting. Small incisions made into the back are protected by suction cups into which drips away the ‘bad blood’, or bloody discharges bearing years of toxicity.

“Would you like to try it?” he asked.

“Yes,” I responded, although I was nervous. I was in his treatment room, supine, marvelling at the acupuncture treatments at Vedary. Dr Afzal is a genius of ‘needling’—he has previously worked at the famous Vana wellness retreat (vana.co.in) near Dehradun. He reminded me of the talent of the renowned Satoshi Hashimoto, who practises a special form of Japanese acupuncture at Thailand’s best wellness destination, Chiva-Som (chivasom.com).

I discovered Vedary when sonic healer and musician Satya Hinduja posted online about a workshop she conducted here. Intrigued, I reached out to the founder, 20-something Kolkataborn Harshvardhan Saraf. In my first meeting with Saraf—who radiates sincerity, concern, and gentleness— I spoke of needing to restore my gut health to equilibrium. Three weeks of gluttony and copious wine in Rome had thrown my constitution out of whack.

“Of course,” Saraf had said to me in his cabin at Vedary’s Khar outpost (the main clinic is in Worli). “Let me book you in with Dr Afzal.”