cooling mudpacks: the aesthetic quality of therapy 193
at Chottanikkara, but we did not eat with the devotees. I walked on the beach
behind Vettucaud church after interviewing affl icted devotees, and I observed
First Friday rituals (see Chapter 2). But I did not participate in prayers and rituals
at the church.- It is problematic to compare a natural, but medicalized, bodily process (child-
birth) to cases of psychopathology (though these could also be seen as “natural”
developments), but these both involve situations for which a medical encounter
is sought. Both myself and Van Hollen examined situations where medical inter-
vention was sought, which Van Hollen points out is the case for most women
giving birth in the region where she worked (56), and where a variety of options
are available. Th is is neither an endorsement nor a critique of the medicalization
of childbirth which Van Hollen depicts as both empowering and limiting. - For another example of healing systems responding to patient demands and pref-
erences, see Scheid (2002) regarding Chinese and Western medicines in contem-
porary China. - Martin (1994).
- Rudorfer et al. (2003: 1867).
- Th e ayurvedic method of tailoring medications to specifi c patients has also been
observed by Obeyesekere (1992). - In his classic comparison of Hopi and European languages, Whorf (1956[1939])
claims that because Europeans spacialize and quantify time, they think of time as
something that can be wasted, and thus they value speed. - For a review of clinical studies of ayurvedic medications see (Khan and Balick
2001). A recent study reports heavy metal contaminants were found in 20% of
ayurvedic medicines sampled, and illnesses have been reported from patients who
used some of these medications (Saper et al. 2008). It is not clear whether this is
part of an accepted practice among some ayurvedic practitioners or whether this
is due to negligent preparation of these drugs.