Do you believe that Nature doesn't distinguish between boys and girls? And human beings have no control over the gender of their unborn baby? A University textbook of Ayurveda, however, defies nature's laws and shares with the readers a recipe for having a son.
A Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) Textbook which is taught as part of the curriculum to University students studying BAMS, talks about the various techniques to conceive a boy.
According to a report in TOI, the book states that consuming a concoction made by grinding two north facing branches of a Banyan tree, precisely two grains of urad dal and mustard seeds mixed in curd will be of great help to all those yearning for a boy.
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Doctors with BAMS degrees have a thriving practice not just in rural areas, but also in cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. Many people shun allopathy in favour of Ayurveda, and if this is what medical students are being taught, God help this society. -Ganesh Borhade
The book also delves into the names of the processes, facilitating the birth of a boy. The process of creating a male foetus is called "pusanvan" and any woman who desires to give birth to a boy should be "blessed with the pusanvan ritual" as soon as she gets pregnant.
The Maharashtra University Of Health Sciences (MUHS) supervises the BAMS syllabus. Talking about the irrelevance of this topic, Ganesh Borhade, a member of the district supervisory board of the PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, told TOI, "Doctors with BAMS degrees have a thriving practice not just in rural areas, but also in cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Nashik. Many people shun allopathy in favour of Ayurveda, and if this is what medical students are being taught, God help this society."
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Dr Asaram Khade, the Maharashtra PCPNDT Act consultant, told Mumbai Mirror,"The academic year starts in July, and such content supports female foeticide."
MUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Mhaisekar said the BAMS curriculum was decided by the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), and that he had written to the ministry regarding the objectionable content. He further added that their response is awaited.
Similar instances of textbooks preaching sexism and gender bias have come to the forefront in the recent past. In one such instance, a Physical Education book taught to Class 12 students informed that the best size for a female body is 36-24-36. In another incident, in a Sociology book it was written that ugliness and physical disability of a girl are two important reasons behind the practice of dowry in our country.
Such instances make us doubt the education system in India and the kind of regressive knowledge that is being imparted.
Read Also: CBSE promotes 36-24-36 figure as best for females
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