Despite tougher health regulatory measures by the European countries to stone-wall the import of ayurvedic medicines, the Indian medicines have gained popularity and acceptance over the years with some NRI's venturing out to manufacture them on European mainland.

Brij Mohan Gupta and his wife Rajni, one of the pioneers of ayurveda medicines in United Kingdom started their company `Multilinks' in 1996, and in less then two years, their diabetes control Charantia Karela capsules have become a runway success. ``We started with a little bank loan and today, in just under two years, we are maintaining a client base in 13 countries across all continents. Multilinks' turnover is approaching half million sterling mark,'' Brij Mohan said.

``We had to work hard to convince the health regulatorshere, who are very strict. We set up state of the art plants using fresh vegetables and spices to make these products,'' Gupta said. In two years, the capsules were included in the British Diabetic Association's guidance leaflets.

``The reasons our capsules found acceptance was because they are 100 per cent natural. We use no added chemicals. Even the shell of the capsules are made from pure vegetables rather than gelatin or meat-based sources,'' he claimed.

Gupta's success has driven him on and he has gone on to launch a number of other ayurveda products including garlic capsules, ginger capsules and live tonic for liver preventive diseases. ``We now plan to introduce a range of healthy Asian snacks and set up ayurvedic medical centres in cities across United Kingdom,'' he said.

Roger Stanton, 39, a Britisher said he had begun showing early signs of high blood glucose levels in 1995 and two years later he almost became insulin dependent. ``My national health scheme doctors could not subscribe anyallopathic medicine for sugar control till somebody pointed out to me the Karela capsules. Today my blood sugar is under control.''

The Ayurveda Association celebrated its 20th anniversary here at a function in Ealing Town Hall. The president of the Ayurveda Association of UK, Dr S Godagame said, ``The interest is so much that earlier this year we ventured to open the first ever ayurvedic medical college here with a batch of 44 students. Most of them British and practising general practioners of the national health scheme,'' he said.