A member of the Bathini Gouda family administers ‘fish medicine’ to a patient at the exhibition grounds in Hyderabad yesterday. The medicine, which has been offered by the family of this southern city to patients for the last 163 years as a cure for asthma and other breathing disorders, is placed in the mouth of a live murrel fish and then slipped into the mouth of the patient. The medicine is administered on the auspicious day of ‘Mrigasira Karti’ which falls in June with the onset of the annual monsoon. The treatment, which is based on a secret herb formula, draws thousands of people from all over the country.
