JOIN USThe sweet smell of rose petals makes its way through the strong aroma of food and entices the visitors to meet herbal expert NK Gupta.
The middle-aged man balances his spectacles on his nose and welcomes Metrolife to his stall inside Theatre Bazaar at 17th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, National School of Drama.
Placing a sky blue cloth bag on the palm he smells it and says, “This is lavender pillow, our latest development in the field of aromas,” as one submits to the heady fragrance of the lavender flowers, encased in cloth bags. “Smell the lavender pillow for around 15 times and place it beside you when you go off to sleep,” he advises, explaining that doing so will “heal all the professional stress that leads to lifestyle disorders.”
The remedy sounds like a blessing from an ascetic. “It is indeed a blessing! The power of aromas from unadulterated sources is still not fully explored in India. For example, lavender was not grown by Indian farmers earlier but now we have trained them to do it at 6,000 feet above sea level. But just its smell is capable of resolving insomnia and nerve-related issues,” says the healer who took to traditional ways of learning about aromas from his guru Pandit Kunj Bihari Sharma (raj vaidya) at the age of four.
Referring to the old days when he used to crush lemons for days at end, he informs about the wonders of chamomile, geranium and juniper. “The problem is people don’t know how to use aromas. While jasmine is quite powerful in humid weather, it should always be worn as a fragrance outside. It is very good for meditation purposes unlike chamomile which is good to cure constipation.”
Soon he digs into his cache of potions and essences and pulls out two red velvet cases. Each miniature bottle in these cases has oil extracts that cost unimaginably high prices. “But the effects are unimaginable too,” says Gupta, adding, “These aromas enter through our five senses to benefit our body.
One might feel negative vibes all of a sudden but the reason could have been shaking of hands with a negative person, which puts us in contact with the other and disturbs our mind. Aromas work in the same manner.”
A resident of Mundka, he is full of such impressive tales wherein he mentions a long list of names as his clients – from IAS officers to journalists! “This is because of the benefits that aroma has on our brain. They try and then come back because they feel the difference.”
At present he has a library of 200 oils among which seven are not even identified in India. He keeps researching on these and others to make their benefits known to people over the world.
Besides, he says he is also working on including aroma therapy in NCERT syllabus for the future generations to know about the magic and benefit of aromas. “My friends joke that if one wants to kill NK Gupta, ‘give him a filthy smelling handkerchief’,” he laughs rubbing a mango-based cream on the hand. “It works as an anti-ageing miracle.”
Aware of the competition, he admits that “Though we can’t beat the market of synthetic aromas, yet I am trying my bit to research and develop as much as I can in aromas. My next subject of research is medicinal aromatic plants.”