 INSIDE STORY: Casino owner Rakesh Wadhwa, who made a dramatic recovery after being diagnosed with lupus, reading an excerpt from his novel The Deal Maker, to be launched in Kathmandu next month. |
Rakesh Wadhwa has a drastic solution to save Nepal, a bit like the radical step he took this year to save his own life. He wants to free the economy from the prescriptions and restrictions of government and let it take care of itself.
In April, at age 53, he was diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, lupus. He found that the prescribed drugs had serious side-effects, so he subjected himself to a one-month fasting therapy that helped him lose 22 kilos and rid him of the disease.
"The therapy allowed my body to use all its energy for the healing process, allowing it to detoxify itself," says Wadhwa. His wife Shalini, who publishes the boss and VOW magazines, also underwent the therapy and brought her diabetes under control.
"There is nothing like a virtual death sentence to concentrate your mind," says Wadhwa. "If you were fasting for a
month just to lose weight, then it probably wouldn't work."
Wadhwa also claims the healing process at the True North Health Centre in California allowed him to regain his mental equilibrium and focus his mind on his novel, The Deal Maker, co-written with South African Leon Louw. It is being published by Rupa and will be launched in Kathmandu on 12 November. The novel tells the story of an Indian socialist dystopia of the future, and a visionary young prime minister with principles. The underlying message is one of freedom, and the triumph of the human spirit. "My life's purpose is achieved with this book," says Wadhwa, who admits he is a proud follower of Ayn Rand.