Coorg's Miracle

For months, all India had been talking of the fabulous girl in Coorg who could live without food or drink. Indian newspapers rushed correspondents to interview tiny (4 ft. 11 in.) Dhanalakshmi Aiyanna, 18, daughter of an assistant manager of a Coorg coffee estate. Followers of Hindu mysticism organized pilgrimages to her home. Judge Panchapakesa Ayyar of the Madras high court announced after a talk with the girl that he was sure she had pierced an ancient yoga myster--"Vayu Bhakshina [aiir-food], an art known only to our sages and described in our sacred books."

Dhanalakshmi was invited to visit the civil hospital in Mercara, where, visited repeatedly by her family and a horde of relatives, she was studied by doctors for 19 days. Dr. T. B. Medappa pronounced himself amazed: "I am convinced this is not a bogus case." Dhanalakshmi lost four pounds during the observation. "She derives nutrition for herself from atmosphere and the soil she walks on," explained one of her followers. "In the hospital there is no soil to walk upon."

Soon Dhanalakshmi was being called "The Wonder Girl of Coorg." and Coorg politicians badgered the Health Ministry into allocating 1,200 rupees for a study of Dhanalakshmi in Bangalore's Victoria

Hospital. Closely watched around the clock, Dhanalakshmi went for two days without sustenance, then sipped seven ounces of water. Later she asked for coffee, then a bite to eat. After the fourth day, she began putting away three meals a day and ate Coorg's miracle out of existence. "She ate every day without fail," reported indignant officials. "We are of the opinion that she had been taking food somehow, somewhere, unnoticed by all."

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