Fish prasadam draws parents seeking asthma relief for kids

“About 80 per cent of ‘paediatric asthma’ or ‘children’s asthma’ cases often improve with age, with many children outgrowing the condition by adolescence,” said Government Chest Hospital superintendent Dr Mehaboob Khan.

Nonetheless, the hope of immediate relief drives parents from Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan to seek alternative remedies like the fish prasadam in Hyderabad, and their numbers are growing. “It's a placebo that helps them morally. As a medical practitioner I cannot advise it,” Dr Mehaboob added.

“In the last few years, especially post-Covid pandemic, we have seen an increase in children accompanied by their parents,” said Nurain Sadik, volunteer at the Bathini fish prasadam distribution centre. “This year, we administered prasadam to around five lakh people, with every third recipient being a teenager or a child. Administering they prasadam to infants is tricky as most don't swallow the fish; in such cases, we just give them the herbal prasadam,” Sadik said

“We came here from Guwahati. Our neighbour has come here with his daughter and she has started feeling better. We did research on Google and learned more about how the prasadam helps cure asthma,” Ryan, who had come for his eight-year-old son, from Assam. “

It's our second visit, and our son felt relief after being given the prasadam last year. We will come next year,” he said.

Some children were very uncomfortable with the idea of swallowing the fish live. The event looked well-organised but senior citizens faced difficulties because there were no special queues for them. “They should have arranged a special queue for people over 50. I have knee problems. It was very difficult to stay in the queue for over six hours. My knees are hurting,” said Bhadu Mahaveer from Nanded, Maharashtra.