Name: Barid Baran Mukherjee (picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Claim to fame: Mukherjee is a hydrotherapist who advocates “simple swimming” to cure numerous problems like diabetes, asthma, irregular blood pressure, osteoporosis, and cerebral palsy.

Special case: Mukherjee recently helped Sumanta, a 13-year-old special child to overcome his cerebral palsy. Sumanta couldn’t move his limbs a few years back. He still cannot walk and needs help to move. But with Mukherjee’s help, Sumanta’s eyes sparkle with joy as he stays afloat in water for a long time on his own.

Beginning: Mukherjee started swimming at the age of five. Gradually, he started experimenting with different moves in water.

“I used to experiment with simple methods that can help even those who don’t know how to swim to stay afloat,” says Mukherjee, who currently stays and trains in New Delhi. The septuagenarian from south Calcuttan often returns to his home in the city to train students here.

Swim cure: The simple act of swimming can cure a number of diseases and is beneficial for all, from pregnant mothers to newborns and the elderly, says the trainer.

“I never force anyone to get into water. I just ask the person to try and float while I continue to talk to him. This is a kind of distraction and I am successful in making him forget that he is in water,” says Mukherjee.

Secret of the swim: The new method of swimming involves alternate poses that are nothing but the practice of pranayam in water, he says. Benefits can be achieved if practised regularly.

A “simple swimmer” is asked to breathe through the nose and not through the mouth when in water, as taught in swimming classes.

Mukherjee divides his training into four stages — bari sandhan, bari taran, bari baran and bari sharan.

“While the last three stages include the normal swimming methods, the first stage teaches the person to breathe while in water in an upturned position and to slowly roll back,” says Mukherjee.

Regrets:“This ancient from of cure has not got the recognition it deserves,” rues Mukherjee.