Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh
Patna: Fever is the detox regime of chief minister Nitish Kumar.
He believes that having fever once or twice a year is good, and those who don't fall ill are more in danger than those who do.
"It is good to have fever once or twice a year. It cleanses the system. Those who never fall ill are in much danger. Such people fall ill just once and go to heaven," Nitish said, gesturing at the sky above.
However, doctors have dismissed the suggestion that having regular fever has long-term benefits to health as unscientific.
"It is not scientifically correct to say it is good to have fever," said Krishan Kumar Agarwal, an internal medicine specialist and the former national president of the Indian Medical Association.
A viral fever will likely induce immunity against that specific viral infection, but does not protect the infected person from a different virus.
Nitish had been ill for over a week recently and somebody asked him on the sidelines of his Monday Lok Samvad (public interaction) programme whether Opposition leaders had telephoned him to enquire about his health.
Incidentally, Nitish had called Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad while he was being treated for fistula in Mumbai last month - a gesture that had led to much political brouhaha and culminated in his outburst over the way Opposition leaders had treated the courtesy.
"Will you call it illness? I usually get fever twice a year. It is usually something of a viral kind. Doctors advise bed rest for a couple of days after which I become okay," Nitish said.
However, the chief minister does not like such kind of bed rest, which he calls "bad rest" instead of "good rest". Once confined to his residence, he normally abides by doctors' advice and takes rest, as well as light medicines for his ailments.
"Otherwise, in normal course of life and work I don't get any rest. But once I am down with fever, I see newspapers only after two-three days of rest," he added.
Nitish, 67, leads a simple lifestyle and his food habits are plain - he's also a vegetarian. However, he suffered back-to-back health related problems recently - severe pain in his wrist, followed by fever.
Sources said the chief minister also likes to go to Rajgir for rest if he feels like having it or falls ill.
Last year, Nitish was resting in Rajgir when the CBI conducted raids on Lalu and his family members in Patna.
They also said that being a stickler for walking and yoga, coupled with his simple lifestyle, Nitish has no serious illness.
"Only once, perhaps it was in 2006, did he suffer from herpes," said a source.
Additional reporting by G.S. Mudur in New Delhi