A LEGACY OF SELF-CARE

For Anita and Simran Lal, wellness is all about finding pleasure in daily practices, writes VASUDHA RAI

- VASUDHA RAI

“THIS IS HOW I fragrance myself in summer,” says Simran Lal, founder of Paro, speaking of the garlands of fresh jasmine buds encircling her neck. As someone who has inherited the knowledge of traditional remedies, ritucharya, or living according to seasons comes naturally to her. “Growing up, I was always surrounded by nature—the fragrance of seasonal flowers, making our own rosewater from damask rose, grinding our own ubtans... In fact, my mother and I called ourselves big witch and mini witch because we were always brewing something.”

Though she was exposed to the natural way of living, her first serious encounter with Ayurveda happened during her twenties. “I had a hormone imbalance and the doctors told me that I would never have children.” But every traumatic experience opens a new door. Because of these circumstances, she began reading Ayurvedic books by Dr. Robert Svoboda, went for a cleanse, and looked at her condition from a different perspective. “Mainstream doctors had told me that stress had nothing to do with it, but Ayurveda looks at the human existence as a whole, with each element interconnected to the other, which made so much sense.”