Being interested in the possibility and implications of a different knowledge system, one of us (Anuradha Veeravalli) had read parts of Carakasamhita, an Ayurvedic text, in translation. Its understanding of health, disease, treatment and pharmacopia was fundamentally different. For instance, longevity was defined as that length of time during which one could continue to do one's dharma. This was in contrast to Allopathy's understanding that life should be prolonged at any cost whatever the damage to the patient (that one is pathologically defined as alive even if only as a vegetable) and to the community (both family and professional resources being commissioned for the purpose), provided there exist the technology and the medicine, and the finance to do so. Ayurveda seemed therefore to have a more sensible and complete understanding of the health of an individual and of treatment.