A mind control class in progress at a city hotel

When a two-day workshop promises to make you master of extra sensory perception (ESP), improve memory and concentration, and even “trigger creativity” among a host of other claims, you are bound to feel sceptical.

“But Silva Mind Control does all this and much more,” says Avadhut Das, the Silva certified trainer for eastern India.

The system, developed by Jose Silva, an American, claims to utilise the right hemisphere of the brain, thereby “doubling the brain power” of a person and improving his life on the whole. It’s also a stress buster, a pain management system and an addiction-killer all rolled into one.

The list of those touched by Silva is long and contains celebs. “Bollywood stars like Sanjay Dutt, Tanuja and Ramanand Sagar have been benefited enormously by Silva Mind Control,” claims Das. Industrialists, lawyers and people from other “eminent sections of society” also make the grade. After “helping” over 1,000 people in Mumbai over the past two-and-a-half years, Das and his team have brought the mind method to the east.

“It is also mandatory for US marines to undergo this training,” claims Das. And what’s good for the US marines must surely be better for good old Calcutta Police. Das has therefore approached Calcutta Police top bosses with proposals for conducting workshops for the force. “The response has been positive,” he says, hastening to add that the decision-makers in Calcutta Police must experience and be convinced about the system first before they give the go-ahead.

For the others, the two-day workshops are already on. They come for a steep price, at Rs 7,800 per person, “but that’s due to royalty that has to be paid,” Das explains. “Also, in future, a person can attend these two-day workshops anywhere in the world free of charge.”

In existence for the past 60 years around the world, the mind programme reached Indian shores in 1982, when it was taught “mostly by foreigners”. “But it was only a decade later that an Indian instructor, Bimal Rakshit, started teaching it,” said Das, a pupil of Rakshit who has also trained under Jose Silva.

A Silva practitioner must undergo at least seven-and-a-half years of training and must have “diagnosed or cured” a certain number of people before he can don the mantle of a trainer. Trainers, like Das, claim to be capable of diagnosing diseases and illnesses by merely touching the patient.

Das, now in his late thirties, was a software consultant by profession, till he fell ill and was “cured” through Silva. This made him a champion for the cause. He’s also a Taekwondo expert, and performs “spiritual rock” music with a band called Vraja.

Currently, Das is firming up his plans for the city. “In four sessions, I have been able to help around 150 people so far,” he says. Serving society is also on his mind, with plans of taking Silva to ease the pains of terminally-ill patients in private hospitals. Orphanages, old-age homes and reformatories are scheduled to follow.