Resolving health issues on a digital literature platform

Team L&M

Ayurveda doctor and practitioner Pallavi Hegde always wanted to communicate about Ayurveda principles or general wisdom of life with other people but didn’t know where and how to do so? This was till she came across a shared Facebook post about Pratilipi, India’s largest digital literature platform, in mid-2018. The self-publishing platform has always encouraged novices and established writers from diverse backgrounds to explore their love for storytelling.
“I was using professional applications to communicate with my patients but had never used a writing and publishing app to communicate till I got to know about Pratilipi. Soon, I started writing on the platform to share the benefits of Ayurveda principles,” recalls Dr Hegde who runs Samarpana Ayurvedalaya in Bengaluru.

To begin with, Dr Hegde wrote about her personal and professional experiences but after a month, she explored the app. “I realised there was no specific flow of medical content which could be well used by the readers. Then it occurred to me that probably I should share my knowledge about Ayurveda with the group,” says the Karnataka-born Dr Hegde. In no time, her comments’ section was inundated with questions about women’s health as women make up for 55% of Pratilipi’s three lakh writers.
Dr Hegde now runs weekly Samasya Samadhan episodes, publishing health articles addressing readers’ queries and has published over 300-plus writings. “Apart from articles on Ayurveda and different ailments, I write general stories, poems and notes on my reading experiences,” adds Dr Hegde who is married to an Ayurveda doctor working at Sri Sri Ayurveda Hospital as deputy medical superintendent.