ADDRESS BY HIGH COMMISSIONER ON THE OCCASION OF AYURVEDA DAY 2025
Respected elders from the Indian community and diaspora,
Fellow Ayurveda, Yoga and fitness enthusiasts,
Members of the Indian High Commission and Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre
Ladies and gentlemen,
Brothers and sisters.
Namaskaar! Seetaram!
On behalf of the AYUSH Information Cell at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Georgetown, Guyana I extend a warm welcome to all of you on the occasion of the 10th Ayurveda Day.
Earlier, the day was celebrated on Dhanteras, one of the five days in one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India called Deepavali. This year, Government of India has decided to observe the Ayurveda Day, every year, on 23 September 2025. We are delighted to join these celebrations across the world underlining the importance of Ayurveda and its contribution to holistic health.
The word ‘holistic’ pretty much summarises the importance and relevance of Ayurveda. Even though, there are attempts to attach some kind of a religious connotation to Ayurveda, given its position as one of the minor Vedas or Upavedas under one of the four major vedas- Atharvaveda, it would be an injustice to consider it as some kind of a religious treatise.
To an extent, by assigning Ayurveda to a religious realm has led to the underestimation of its contribution towards holistic health. It is therefore imperative that we try to segregate it and appreciate its nuances- as a science and not a ritual or liturgical practice.
It would be remiss of me if I do not underline the reason that AYUSH stands for various disciplines including Ayurevda and many other indigenous medicinal system- rather a wisdom which is passed across the generations, practiced and with empirical evidence refined to the requirements of changing lifestyles and vicissitudes of modern life.
Stress, undoubtedly, counts as major factor that affects all of us and it plays a critical role in both health and disease. We all know about eustress or good stress and distress- the so-called bad stress. It is natural that when we talk about stress, we invariably think that it is bad and a root cause of many diseases. That is not incorrect. Yet, we know as part of our experience that some amount of stress is actually useful as it would improve performance, by release of certain hormones and neurotransmitters. It is, however, important that this release is controlled and calibrated.
In many medicinal systems, there is a concept of bodily humors. Maintaining the balance between these humors is quintessential in maintaining homeostasis which in a lay-man parlance is ‘well-being’ which all of us strive for. If this sounds familiar to you, welcome to the world of Ayurevda. Ayurveda too expounds the concept of Prakriti. It is bodily constitution which differs from individual to individual and the main objective of Ayurveda is to maintain a fine balance between various humors which would ensure good health.
It is also important that we appreciate a basic universal principle that our body reacts to its surrounding. This is a nothing but the principle of action and reaction- which we are familiar as one of the Newton’s Laws in Physics. So the basic premise is our body reacts to its surroundings or the nature- the weather, climate and obviously the people too. On a lighter note, the concept of stress or distress could possibly the easiest to understand when we appreciate how we react to people and how that reaction affects our body.
This takes us to another pivotal concept in Ayurveda about Poshan and Aahar, which is based on bodily constitution and weather cycle. Ayurveda has an elaborate description of bodily constitution and diet suitable for particular body type and time of the day, period of the month and part or season in the year. This would allow you to appreciate that a lot of empirical study and experience would have gone into development of these basic tenets that are the guiding principles in Ayurveda. Therefore, to consider it a mere religious treatise would be erroneous. It is undoubtedly a scientific endeavour based on empirical evidence and the same is being increasingly applied across the world by dieticians these days.
Again, on a lighter note, when an elder in the family imparts us this wisdom free of cost out of our heritage and generational inheritance, we tend to belittle it, but when we see a dietitian or a fitness expert tell us the same thing in a social media video or reel, we take it as dogmatic truth. People are willing to pay a lot to their dietician to plan a balanced diet and resort to all sorts of crash diets and fancy, expensive, imported food items- but we tend to ignore what mother nature offers us largely free of cost. This too is a unique concept in Ayurveda- as it places considerable emphasis on diet along-side exercise and stress management.
As we observe the Ayurveda day today, let us introspect what we have and what we want to achieve. The main take-way from our deliberations today should be to strive for holistic health. Health is not only absence of disease but to remain at ease with our body, our surroundings and to strive for a perfect balance in life. It is easier said than done. But we can begin with a key, an instrument that can lead us to that goal. That key, dear brothers and sisters, is Ayurveda.
I wish you all a very happy Ayurevda Day.
Dhanyavaad.
Namaskaar.
