Saving the lives of many

Nov 2005

Lingo Laxman Mirashi is very popular among the residents of Ramnagar in Joida taluk. His medicines have after all saved the lives of many. Shruti I L tells us more about the man.

Sixty-four-year-old Mirashi says he can cure as many as 53 ailments. Acidity, diabetes, asthma, BP, leprosy, TB, skin diseases, body ache, heart attack and baldness, to mention a few. “I can cure people suffering from AIDS and cancer, provided the disease is in its initial stages,” he adds.

The list of his can do’s continue for he can treat the possessed too.

Mirashi believes that God is with him in each of his endeavours. “It is God, who helps me choose the plants from which I make my medicines,” he adds. Mirashi’s medicines are however, just not the result of immense devotion or divine intervention. They are also the outcome of a trial and error process over the years.

He used to test the medicines on himself before prescribing it to others, he says. His grandfather who allowed him to accompany him during his visits to the forests, to collect the ingredients for the medicines, has also been an important source of information and inspiration.

His medicines are made of roots, fruits, tender leaves and barks and just need to be mixed with water and come as powders or liquids. His family helps him in collecting the materials and preparing these medicines.

Ask him if this profession is economically viable and he says, “I have treated hundreds of people. Initially people came to me only after English medicine had failed them. But now I also have people coming to me directly. My patients, satisfied with my service spread the word around and this has increased my clientele and income. But I mainly depend on agriculture for my livelihood.”

His clientele includes those from Mumbai, Hyderadad, Poona, Bangalore, Goa, Belgaum and Dharwad.

His medicines are reasonably priced. They are anywhere between Rs 10 and Rs 500. However, there have been people who have paid him more than Rs 10,000 after he cured them of their disease. Louis Fernandes of Goa is one such.

“My wife had cataract. I had spent more than Rs 10,000 to treat her but to no avail. Then I heard about Mirashi and approached him. The medicine he gave cured her within days,” he says.

Mirashi is also known for providing free treatment to the needy. “I accept payment only after it is certified that the patient is completely cured,” he says. There have also been incidents where people have availed his treatment without paying him.

But these stray incidents have however, leave Mirashi unaffected. He says, “I wish to serve mankind and as long as God is with me and I have the capacity to do so, I’ll dedicate myself to the society.”