Time for fish medicine

Annual ritual will be held in Hyderabad on June 8

HYDERABAD, ANDHRA PRADESH, 08/06/2014: Bathini Goud family member administers 'fish medicine' to a patient at the exhibition grounds in Hyderabad on June 8, 2014. Photo: Ramesh Babu

As the clock strikes 9 a.m. on June 8 and Mrigasira Karthi arrives, the burgeoning queues at the Exhibition Grounds at Nampally will start moving towards a dozen counters set up inside. The crowd will continue to arrive till 9 a.m. the next day.

That’s the annual ritual followed by the Bathini Goud brothers of Doodh Bowli in Old City since 1845. That’s when the fish medicine will be administered to hordes of people suffering from respiratory disorders.

For vegetarians

“While most of them swallow fishling filled with medicine, there are also counters where vegetarians will get the same medicine but shrouded in jaggery,” said Bathini Harinath Goud at a press conference here on Thursday. He is one of the two brothers who are carrying on the tradition handed to them by their forefathers.

The fish/jaggery filled with medicine apart, people arriving here from all parts of the country will also get a medicine that they have to take in the form of two tablets each fortnight thrice.

And during these 45 days, the Bathini Goud has a list of 27 edible items that those who take the medicine can eat and 24 items that they should avoid.

On Wednesday, Fisheries Minister T. Srinivas Yadav held a review meeting in this regard with the representatives of Bathini Goud family and officials from different departments associated with the 24-hour exercise.