lives and problems 131
explained, “Something like a ‘tension’ has come,” using the English-language
idiom that Mary also invoked.
After seeing the allopathic psychiatrist, Hanifa sought therapy from a clin-
ical psychologist for one month. Hanifa and his wife had also been coming to
Beemapalli since the onset of Hanifa’s “tension:”
Hanifa’s Wife: Right from when this problem started, we used to come here
once a week.Kavitha: Here.Hanifa’s Wife: After that, for one and a half years we have been staying here.
We have to stay here for fi ve more months. Th ere is a lot of change after coming
here.Hanifa: After we married, I got a son. He’s fi ve years old.Kavitha: Yeah, I saw him.Hanifa’s Wife: Th is “tension” began when he was working in the Gulf. So he
resigned from the job and came back. Th en his father’s death. Th en there was
some problem. After that the business also was not benefi cial and we lost every-
thing. Th en there was a fi nancial problem also.Hanifa’s problems were compounded by the death of his father and fi nan-
cial diffi culties he and his wife encountered after his return from the Gulf. His
wife says here that coming to Beemapalli has brought him “a lot of change,”
although the allopathic psychological and psychiatric treatment that partially
overlaps this period may have contributed to this improvement. We asked
Hanifa’s wife if they were still continuing allopathic treatment:
Kavitha: Are you taking allopathic medicine now?Hanifa’s Wife: No, no.Kavitha: Now he is not taking any medicine.Murphy: Now it is fi nished.Hanifa’s Wife: Now that he is not taking medicine, there is a lot of improve-
ment. When he was taking medicine, he had memory problems [lit. reduction:
kuravu].