BUSINESS STANDARD
 
A Japanese student who
 
came to Kerala in search of the secrets of the ancient medical system of Siddha, has bagged the top rank in the Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS) in Kerala University.
 
Twenty-five-year-old Ayumi Saito, a student of Santhigiri
 
Siddha Medical College, run by Santhigiri Ashram near here, was conferred the degree at a function at the college campus the other day.
 
Medical college authorities said Saito secured the top rank in the varsity for BSMS in 2013-14 and the degree was conferred along with 34 other students after completing their one-year house surgency.
 
A native of Yokohama in Japan, Saito came to Kerala after reading about the Siddha medical system in the internet.
 
"She was really enthusiastic to know more about Siddha.
 
The barriers of language and culture were not hurdles for her to pursue the course and go into the depths of the healing system, considered to be one of the oldest in the world," a college official told PTI.
 
Though she hails from a business family, Saito chose to
 
follow the paths of Siddha after learning about the ancient system in depth, he said.
 
Though she did not have any prior knowledge in Tamil, in
 
which most of the Siddha texts are available, she learnt the language quickly and secured top marks in it also, which is one of the papers in the BSMS course.
 
He said she was now planning to go back to her native country and continue practise there.