Stammering is not a disease. I stammered for 20 years but once I decided to rid myself of this handicap I did. It is only a habit which you either pick up by mimicking someone or which is a result of your circumstances. I will narrate my story: how I began to stammer and finally got rid of it.

In 1925 I joined the newly opened primary school in my village, Danheri, in Fatehgarh Sahib. I was a little over five year old then. One of the activities at school was to recite the paharas (tables) loudly. One afternoon when our class stood in a semi circle, the teacher detailed me to recite pandra ka pahara. I had to start saying pandra ekam pandra, pandra dooni teees (15 ones are 15; 15 twos are 30). This perhaps was the first time that I faced the class. I was quite unwilling to take on such an assignment. I was a shy boy by nature and wishfully wondered how I could wriggle out of this peculiar situation. However time was short. I also wanted to avoid the teacher’s admonishment for a delayed start.

Left with no other option, I started up with whatever courage I could muster and found myself stammering p`85p`85p`85pandra ekam pandra`85.p`85p`85d`85d..dooni tees. The class had a hearty laugh at my stammering. I, not sure how I should to react to such a situation, found myself laughing with the class. This significant moment changed my life to such an extent that it left me with a handicap.

There could be several causes of stammering. One of them is to face a situation for which you are not prepared. This unforeseen situation compels you to stammer all of a sudden.

Habitual silence or lack of self-esteem during childhood could be another cause. In my case, I was only eight months old when my mother died. I was the youngest child in my family. My three elder sisters formed their own group. My brother was the eldest among us six children. He was twelve years older than I and got married at an early age. I was left to myself and had no friend or playmate. My father looked after me whenever he could but it was never enough. This kind of life perhaps made me shy, lonely and reticent.

The third cause could be mimicking and ridiculing a stammerer and continuing this activity for a long time. A habit picked up like this will, however, not last long and can be cured easily.

Interestingly, I could talk normally with my sisters and my brother’s wife but not with my brother. While talking to a stranger or answering a sudden question, I would stammer. Yet, on some very important occasions when I had to be interviewed by a board consisting of very important personalities, I could manage to talk freely and felt surprised at not stammering at all. May be it was the expectation or excitement on such occasions that enabled me to forget my stammering.

In 1945, I was at the Madras Regimental Centre in a small place called Madukarai, near Coimbatore, where I met a homoeopath. He was a friendly and polite person, adept in his work. This was the first time ever since I had started stammering that I had found a person who understood my problem clearly, was sympathetic and ready to do all he could. He took me to his clinic and asked me to sit down and relax. He gave me a glass of water, and a book in which he pointed out at a large paragraph that he wanted me to read silently. Take a few long breaths before you start, he advised.

He then asked me to read the whole paragraph loudly. "You will stammer," he said, "but you have to continue reading in spite of the stammering. If you are in the habit of worrying about your stammering, forget all that for the time being. Take a few sips of water, a long breath and start."

I read the whole paragraph as instructed and stammered many times. I put the book down and took some water. He let me relax for a short while and then said, "You have stammered 17 times. The fact that you continued reading in spite of stammering goes to your credit." I listened to him respectfully. I liked and understood all he said.

I read and re-read the para again and again and found myself stammering less and less. "This may have been the very first time in your life that you have deliberately used all your throat muscles and tongue during the last few minutes. All those muscles functioned in unison and got activated. They will start functioning normally with more practice. This is the most essential yet simple practice, the importance of which we often ignore. Yes, indeed, remember that practice makes a man perfect," he told me.

He gave me another advice. "You should keep a small roundish pebble in the side of your mouth. Its presence in the mouth is likely to divert your attention from stammering. Keep it as long as you need it."

Having discovered my guru and his mantra which appeared to work. I was in a hurry to try out his method. I made a long list of the words on which I used to stammer. It included words like king, queen. qilla, kama, risaldar, second in command, Ludhiana, gumundee, Pudukatai, Gudalur, etc. I began using them all in the long paragraph that I read regularly.

I start my homework by climbing the nearest hill, with few green shrubs on the top. Here on the very first day I had to read my paragraph fairly loudly and consider a bush that was good twenty feet away as my audience.

The task was new. The beginning was slow. I felt tired and hesitant. There I was, a lonesome human being reading out a paragraph to a dumb bush. I just stopped, hesitated, looked around and found nothing encouraging. I stood motionless for a while and felt like giving it all up. I got ready to move down the hill. However, just then a quiet and serene thought came. It spoke its own language. It said: Are you walking back after achieving your aim? Aren’t you missing a golden chance so well planned? Why walk-back empty-handed? Why not spend just 20 minutes and carry out the practice? You already know how to do so. Why not get cracking at once.

Thereafter you can walk home with some measure of satisfaction. At least you would have tried to do what you came up here for. My mood suddenly changed. How fortunate!

I got my resolve back. I started reading my paragraph loudly and clearly to the bush. At the second reading not only was I pronouncing each word as though my pronunciation was being tested but I also spoke more loudly and angrily as though admonishing the poor bush. I liked doing so. With such a loud performance I temporarily forgot my stammering and, what was more interesting, I wanted to go on and on with my practice. No hesitancy. No looking back. A quiet satisfaction filled my mind.

I repeated this exercise again and again and finally got rid of my stammering. Its memory faded with the passage of time. Thank God it was all over.

I would be willing to help any one who seeks my help. I can be contacted at H.No. 2521, Sector 35-C, Chandigarh, Ph: 2601572.