lives and problems 135
in a positive sense, improvement), kuravu (“decline” or “lessening” of negative
symptoms), āśvāsam (“relief ”), aiśvaryam (“wealth/glory”) and abhivriddhi
(“prosperity”). None of these terms has quite the same meaning as “cure,” and
the case of Hanifa, who fi nds relief by residing for periods of time at Beemapalli
mosque, presents an example of a way of coping with an illness problem that is
not captured by the allopathic/English language ideal of curing. Th us people’s
illness experiences in Kerala give us a variety of ways of thinking about the
goals of healing and the dispensation of illness, some of which challenge the
understanding of healing or curing as a return to an original pre-illness state
or a simple absence of illness.
Finally, Lakshmi parses the diff erent types of consciousness she experiences
during possession while Sreedevi and Mary clearly identify their problems as
occurring in the realm of manas (“mind”), providing hints of a construction of
phenomenological experience that is neither “embodied” nor a case of mind-
body dualism.
Notes
- Privileging the interior, individual self as somehow more authentic is likely to be
problematic in North American and European societies as well—see Kusserow
(1996, 1999) on the socially embedded self in the United States and Battaglia
(1995), who claims the self is “a reifi cation continually defeated by mutable
en tanglements with other subjects’ histories, experience, self-representations” (2). - Th is and all other quotes from informants are translated from Malayalam,
although words in quotation marks occurred in English in the original. In order
to preserve readability, not all English language terms are indicated by quotes in
all interviews. Certain frequently used English terms that have become part of
everyday speech in Malayalam, such as “doctor,” “hospital” or names of medica-
tions are not highlighted. - Approximately 15% of people in Kerala pass SSLC, and this is one of the highest
rates in India (National Family Health Survey—Kerala 1995: 33, 189). - National Family Health Survey—India (1995: 53).
- Th e drug names the informants indicate are brand names, not generic names.
Th e same psychiatric drugs that are available in the United States are made by
Indian pharmaceutical companies and are marketed under brand names diff er-
ent from those in the U.S. Hexidol, which Sreedevi’s mother mentions here, is
the brand name of a commonly prescribed antipsychotic. It is a combination of
haloperidol and benzhexol hydrocholoride. - Romanucci-Ross (1969), Young (1981) and Sharp (1994).
- On the availability of allopathic care in Kerala, see Panikar and Soman (1984)
and Nirmala (1997). - An online encyclopedia by an Indian botanical research institute lists 17 diff erent
species that are locally referred to as “raktapushpa” in India (Foundation for the
Revitalization of Local Health Traditions 2006). A newly discovered species of