Mohit Abbi

My name is Mohit Abbi. I am 17 years of age and live with my Grandma, parents Vijay and Meena. I have an older brother called Devinder and younger sister named Prerna.

My life was normal until January 2006. Initially my illness started off with spots on my scalp. The spots were extremely itchy and rapidly spread all over the head and back. These became blistery in appearance and contained yellow puss when the spots burst. Due to my condition, I could not sleep or concentrate. Subsequently this led to headaches and migraines as days of no sleep turned to weeks. My mum took me to the hospital but I was told that the spots were a fungal type infection, which could only be treated by taking antibiotics. My vision became blurry and when my eyes were checked by the hospital I was told to ask the GP to arrange an appointment with the eye hospital. I was prescribed lots of different tablets each time I went to the GP and over time the spots did get better.

During February I suddenly started getting severe upper abdominal pain to the right side. This may have been the side effect of the medicines I was taking. I was still suffering from Migraines and the abdominal pain was so bad that I started vomiting. I had fever and although we kept going to the GP it did not get better. One night I was so bad that my body started shaking. My mum got worried and phoned the emergency doctor who advised me to go to the hospital. There they carried out x-rays and ultrasound but could not find anything wrong.

Various blood tests were carried out during my twenty-two days there (19th Feb – 13th March) but as everything was normal I was sent home even though the pain was still there. During the remainder of March, April, May and part of June my parents tried other treatments. Someone suggested trying accupuncture so my mum booked me in for 15 sessions of accupuncture. I attended these sessions religiously as the treatment brought me a little relief even though it was temporary and I did manage to get a bit of sleep at night. We also tried reflexology and homeopathic medicines but to no avail.

In June my condition started getting worst. I could not keep anything down in my stomach (solids or liquids) and I became weaker and weaker. My appointment to see a doctor at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough came up on the 20th June 2006. As soon as the doctor saw me crawl into the room (which is what I was like then due to weakness) they checked me again and kept saying that there was nothing physically apparent and that it was important that I got psychological support to help me cope with my pain! My mum reluctantly agreed to a referral to see another specialist to discuss what could be done. What choice did we have?

That evening (of 20th June) we received a call from the hospital doctor asking that I be taken back to the hospital, which my mum did. I was admitted and the specialist came to see me the next morning. I was prescribed anti-depressants, sleeping tablets and muscle relaxants to help me to go to sleep. My mum came to see me that evening and I told her that the pain seemed to have spread to my back on both sides. When she checked the lower back section she went and called the nurse. The nurse seemed alarmed after seeing the swelling and called the Senior Registrar. A couple of other doctors came and they all started feeling the lumps, which were the size of tennis balls. This area felt hot and was raised. They gave me a very strong dose of three different antibiotics by IV because the doctors suspected an infection. The next day when my mum visited me again the lumps had grown to the size of melons! When the lumps appeared the skin started to discolour. The doctors drew some fluid from the lumps and sent this for analyses to see if it was just an infection or something more serious. When the results came back negative the doctors said that I had to go to an adolescent unit in Wokingham who would take over my care and management. I then found out that this was a psychiatric unit. I could not stand never mind walking but the nurses used to force me to walk by myself to the toilet. The physiotherapists were told to put me on a rehabilitation programme. I was asked to run, forcibly do stretch exercises and taken for long walks in the hospital car park. This is where I fell down one day and injured my hip. The next day there was bruising and swelling to that side of the hip.

After all that, Ajay walked into my life on one evening at the end of June. He came to visit me with Baljit uncle who requested him to pay me a visit in hospital. Ajay walked in and explained he was there to help me. He reassured me that the practice of Divya Yog (Divine Yoga) – essentially ancient Indian breathing exercises or Pranayams as they are called in the ancient Sanskrit language – will help to alleviate and remove my problems from the core. He explained that my situation could get worse before it gets better but that I should stick it through and have faith. I felt so encouraged that when he asked me to sit and try the breathing techniques I sat in the most complex posture - Padmasan - with both my feet folded on top of the thighs. At this Ajay was surprised and remarked “Mohit, sit comfortably, you don’t need to sit like that!” My reply was “I’m fine” and internally I was feeling great that alas I was going to beat these problems and cure myself. Ajay went on to explain – “You’ll need to stay positive and you will cure yourself with the aid of these techniques”. Instantly I felt a surge of power within me and I just wanted to leave the hospital instantly. Ajay encouraged me to do Bhastrika, Kapal-bhati and Anulom-Vilom Pranayams. He explained that I could do the pranayams lying down whenever I felt any discomfort in sitting. He was so encouraging and showed me the correct ways and the “dosage” (no. of minutes per breathing exercise) of each pranayam for my condition and state of health. From that evening I started these exercises and found that I actually got some sleep that night!

Soon afterwards I came back home and it was then that Ajay brought his Guru Ji to my house to pay me a visit. I was now in a lot of pain. Guru Ji was an elderly gentleman in his mid-70’s and wore saffron clothing as he was a Sanyasi (ascetic). Guruji had also been a Child Specialist Doctor in his earlier working life. He checked my pulse and took note of my medications. He told us clearly that I had no psychiatric symptoms and that my current condition was mainly exacerbated due to the side effects of the allopathic medications I was being given. He blessed me and left.

Over the next few days Ajay and my parents spoke and they battled with the situation as to what to do next. Finally, my parents were convinced that they had to reject this absurd diagnosis that I was psychotic and decided to bring me off the anti-depressants. The decision was made.

But my condition was getting worse. Ajay then arranged to escort my parents and I to the Swami Ramdev Ji Shrivir (camp) in Ilford, East London. We eventually went to where Swami Ramdev Ji was staying on the evening of Thursday 20th July. Swamiji was so tired but even so he made time to bless us. Along with my family, Ajay had also brought another young man from another hospital - he was paralysed from the hip downwards (due to TB in the spine) - to meet Swamiji. We met at around 10pm until around 11pm. Swamiji asked me what was wrong and when I explained my symptoms Swamiji also stated that there was nothing psychologically wrong with me. Swamiji advised me to continue with the breathing exercises and prescribed three Ayurvedic medicines. I was prescribed the following although I could not take them because I would vomit them straight back out again:

Mukhtavati – 2 tabs after meal

Chandraprabavati – 2 tabs after meal

Avipattikar Churna – to prevent sickness and improve appetite.

On the way back to Slough Hospital that same evening (it was around 23:30pm) the pain in my side and lower back intensified so much that everything went black and I was shaking and screaming. We had to pull up onto the hard shoulder of the London North Circular and they called the ambulance. Water was splashed on my face and my mum tried to hold my head so that I didn’t hurt myself. The ambulance arrived and they checked me and said they were not seizures but they could take me to the local hospital in London. I refused and said I just wanted to go back to Slough. We arrived back in Slough at 01.30am the next morning! My mum and Ajay dropped me off at the hospital where they stayed with me until I settled down.

The next day, on Friday the 21st July, I continued with the breathing exercises and even though I was so weak and couldn’t stand up by myself, the nurses would force me to walk to the toilet and I actually fell over and hurt myself a number of times as I just could not balance. Upset and fed up, I walked out of the hospital. The security men were called and brought me back. I was adamant I had to leave and called for my parents. When they arrived, I told them “I’m gonna be fine. I’m going to take over my own care. You lot have tried, the doctors and specialists have tried and now it’s my turn”. Contrary to the doctors’ advice, who had refused to discharge me, I followed my heart and mind and boldly filled out a self-discharge form and signed myself out of Wexham Park Hospital. I came back home at 10pm that evening. Since coming home I took over my own care. My condition was so bad that I could not even keep a spoon of water down. As soon as I drank or ate anything I was sick straightaway. Strangely, that night I could not sleep, and at around 1am (in the early hours of Saturday morning, 22nd July), I got up and practiced my Pranayams for about 20 minutes.

Mysteriously, the next day, on Saturday 22nd July, at around mid-day, I was lying half asleep on the sofa in the lounge and unknown to me I apparently spoke out aloud an Ayurvedic (Indian herbal) concoction from the top of my head to my Chaiji (grandma)!!!!! I had asked her to get one leaf from the Aloe Vera plant we had growing in our hallway. I asked her to peel this and add this to 375ml of water and bring to the boil. When this was reduced to 100ml I asked her to add one 5ml spoon of ground ginger and a quarter 5ml spoon of black salt. When this mixture was cooled I asked her to squeeze half a lime and stir into about half a ‘tumbler’ glass. I then drank only half of this even though it tasted very bitter. I don’t know who told me about this remedy but it certainly worked for me. It’s like God was telling me to have it!

That same day, after some 2 hours I asked for half an apple and I ate a further 3 times that day. The very next day I was able to drink without being sick. I only had the above concoction (mixture) once and gradually my condition improved to where I was able to eat rice with yoghurt. I am still not able to eat any wheat-based product without being sick so it leads me to conclude that I must have been allergic to wheat when all these symptoms first started. Because I was forced to keep eating bread whilst in the hospital my condition probably deteriorated. Anyhow, 3 days after taking this herbal mixture, I started doing 5 whole minutes continuous of each pranayam. I gradually kept increasing the duration of the pranayams until 1 week later I was doing a full 2 hours in front of the TV in the morning and 1 hour in the evening, including some physical exercises (asanas).

In mid-August, Ajay arranged for my mother and I to attend the Harrow Shivir to try and meet Swamiji and to bring the news of my recovery to his attention. Not only did I have the good fortune to make Swami Ram Devji’s dharshan (blessings) once again but I was given the privilege by Swamiji himself to honour and welcome Kripacharya Bal Krishanji formally by presenting him with flowers on stage. I took the opportunity to tell everyone at the Shrivir how I was saved by his Blessings and his pranayams.

I know that had Ajay not visited me that day in hospital I may not be here today.

Note : Friends of Life's chief medical advisor, Dr. M L H Kumar MBE, who has also been selected for the medical advisory board of PYP UK, will be obtaining the complete and detailed summary of notes and investigations done by specialists in the case of Mohit Abbi. FoL has obtained Mohit and his family's permission for the release of all such data.