Take reiki ... Never mind that practitioners say it could be a thousand years old, this form of treatment is the newest alternative therapy to hit the City and even now there will be many people who have never heard of it. It is all about energy flows, transferring energy and unblocking the body's subtle chakras. It's a Japanese word -- ki refers to energy and rei means life.

No drugs at all, no surgery, no electrical gadgets. The reiki master places his hands on the patient at particular spots according to the problem. ``Many times we won't even touch the patient,'' says Anju, a local practitioner.

Magic, you exclaim. No, she says. ``And it's not religion, either.'' Brig Prem Kumar, a local reiki master, explains that it is a scientific healing technique. ``If you're alive, that means you have a life-force flowing through you. So long as the energy path of this force is unobstructed you are healthy; ailments signal a block somewhere on that path. Reiki helps the energy flow naturally and unimpeded''.

According to the masters, reiki doen't cure diseases, but it most certainly makes treatments more effective and efficient by relieving you of things like tension and insomnia. ``With reiki you heal quicker, recover faster, it reverses the ageing process and vitalising body and mind,'' Anju says. Reiki isn't cheap: one sitting can cost upwards of Rs 100 and one might require a number of sessions.

After you get you life-force flowing straight, you may want to go to work on your yin-yang balance. That will take you to the acupuncturist or acupressurist. Chandigarh has at least a dozen of these specialists. If reiki comes from Japan, both acupuncture and acupressure originated in China. According to this medical philosophy, ailments arise when we have too much yin or too much yang. Acupuncture, acupressure aims to restore this balance. While many qualified doctors scoff at it, some of them do seem to approve. ``Many times I have treated patients with this and saved them from having unnecessary medicines,'' says a City-based doctor. There are Chinese treatment centres in sectors 23 and 43. Besides acupuncture, they have moxabution (that's where a wad of some fragrant substance is burnt on the needle after it is stuck into the body) and the "seven-star" needle treatment.

Chinese medicine also relies heavily on herbal preparations. According to the practitioners, this system is especially good for treatment of arthritis and diabetes.

The Indian translation of reiki is prana -- a term and a concept well known to all yoga practitioners. Many people swear by pranik healing -- very similar to reiki. Pranayam is one of the main techniques of this healing approach -- this means deep, rhythmic breathing which is supposed to activate one's prana and channelise it through two interior channels called the da and the pingala.

Pranayam is mentioned in many ancient treatises on yoga -- but it's only one of many yogic practices aimed at ensuring physical and mental health. Chandigarh has many centres where even advanced forms of yoga are taught -- and most of us know someone who has overcome some health problem by faithful daily practice of some particular asans. Strict scientific tests have established that yoga accomplishes many health-restoring things. It can bring down blood pressure, calm the colon, clear sinuses, unfreeze joints and even improve vision.

Massage is another very old Indian technique Passing through sectors 20, 22 and Industrial Area, one can spot any number of pavement masseurs -- a big cardboard bearing a crudely drawn picture f an arm or leg and an array bottles filled with luridly coloured oil proclaims their trade. What's in the oil? It's as uncertain as the skill and qualification of the masseur. No wonder, many people shy away from these "specialists".

However, there's no denying that in many cases a correct massage can bring about rapid and dramatic improvement. In recent months, a few centres have opened in City offering different types of massage performed by trained personnel.

One such centre is PD's Kerala Massage in Sector 17. Owner Parminder Kaur Dhillon says this is the first `authorised' Kerala massage centre in the City. She claims to cure jaundice by a four-day medicine and an 11-day massage, and piles by eight-day medicine and 11-day massage. But besides treatment for various diseases such as migraine, back and joint pain and paralysis, she says massage also revitalises the body's metabolic process and improves blood circulation and vital functions of all the organs. ``Just one massage every six months or even once a year will do,'' she says.

While there are different charges for various courses, a massage costs Rs 400 and a steam bath Rs 300. How is Kerala massage different from other massages? ``In this, we massage the entire body seven times. Also, the oil possesses special healing qualities,'' she asserts.

One good thing about most of these alternate systems of medicine is that they are holistic in other words, they encourage patients to remould all their habits along healthy lines. As one of the teachers at the Divya Yog Mandir in Sector 30 says, "There's not much use in a person spending half an hour in yog asans in the morning if he's going to spend three hours over whiskey, cigarettes and chicken at night. therapeutic benefit is little or much, at least alternate medicine will not make you sicker than before.