[Jerwittdergut]

Well Bala...its tuf to imagine a gentle elderly lady in a madisar holding a needle and doing some sorta voodoo or witch thingy I think you have completely mixed things up... these things are often mentioned as "kattu" or binds... these are sattvic in nature... the maami is not like a dark magician or voodoo practitioner... and there is no poking or pricking anybody with the needle...

there are certain moola manthrams for certain diseases, snake bites, scorpion bites etc... one has to do japa, a certain number of times, with untainted concentration, fo the siddhi to be manifested in the individual...

i have listed the details down:

- the affected person has to go to the maami's house for 3 days (only during the period of the ritual)

- the maami would have purified herself and performed pujas already; she also keeps a small vessel of water and performs the puja routine...

- the jaundiced should take with him betel leaves and betel nuts, banana, coconut, a needle (the maami would tell the size of the needle) and 1 Re coin (as dakshina)

- the patient is made to sit facing east; while uttering shlokas, the mami catches both ends of the needle (in a horizontal way), dips in the purified (through shlokas) water and sprinkles it on the patient... this whole procedure takes 15 to 20 minutes... (nobody is allowed in that room while doing this)

- After it is over, the water colour turns to yellow...

- the same procedure is repeated thrice a day for three days... the intensity of the fever is reduced... and the healing process is accelerated... by taking supplementary medicines, speedy recovery is assured...

my colleague has been treated with this method... and he says that one can sense a relief through this...