The Hindu : Rationalists puncture quack's claim

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 18, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Rationalists puncture quack's claim

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE JULY 17. The BBC correspondent, Tanya Datta's eyes lit up when she was told that a person from a village near Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada District was giving "photo therapy" to Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth. Ms. Datta, who was scheduled to visit Mangalore for a feature on the rationalist movement in India, saw it as an opportunity for doing a story.

The person, Varadaraja Pai, also claimed to have treated other VIPs, including the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. He claimed to cure diseases through, what he called, a pendulum. Mr. Pai made predictions that India would become a strong nation in 25 years and a dynamic young man would become Prime Minister. So, when the rationalists whom Ms. Datta wanted to interview were told of this claim about Prince William, it was decided that they all go to Nada village, some 50 km. from here.

The team comprised Ms. Datta and members of Rationalists' Association, including Narendra Nayak, Editor of Indian Skeptic, B.Premanand, and Sheela Samuel. Initially, Mr. Pai gave a lecture on the composition of white light which, he claimed, was made up of nine colours. He said these colours came from different plants, each representing its own colour. After the lecture, Mr. Pai showed a pendulum, which would be held over a book. Depending on the information required, a page was to be turned. A photograph or some possession of the patient, even a lock of hair, would be placed in front of the book with the appropriate page open and the pendulum allowed to swing.

The pendulum would provide the answers and diagnose the disease and the treatment would be suggested. It would show the colour for which a person was "hungry". Wearing the appropriate gemstone or getting treated by the healer himself could fulfil the "hunger" for the colour. Mr. Pai claimed he could heal patients even by looking at their photograph.

Dr. Nayak, in a press release here, said there was an array of boxes with photographs stuck on them and with coloured bulbs inside, in a room in Mr. Pai's house. When switched on, the rays would fall on the photograph and heal the patient. This, he said, was supposed to be the basis of Mr. Pai's "scientific" technique, teletherapy.

After the explanations, the practical session began. A young woman was made to sit in the patient's chair and Mr. Pai was asked to diagnose her ailments. Since there was no photograph of hers, a hair was plucked from her head and given to him. He placed the hair on the table, swung the pendulum and declared her "perfectly healthy" in seconds.

Mr. Pai, however, said the woman had some personality problems due to the "deficiency" of green colour. When told that the woman, whom he had proclaimed to be healthy, was suffering from cancer, Mr. Pai was taken aback.

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