For one, wear blue pyjamas. And in those blue pyjamas, listen to music whose pace mirrors your heartbeat — but don't watch television news.

Batra began his career in homeopathy in 1974 with a monthly salary of only 150 rupees, but he has since built a health clinic empire with annual turnover of 250 million rupees ($5.5-million).

His treatments range from aromatic baths to meditation and healthier diets.

His 18 Dr. Batra Positive Health Clinics employ 110 homeopath doctors and 300 assistants around India, and another 475 000 patients have sought consultations through the Internet.

A clinic Batra started in London flopped after two years, but he was hopeful of eventually finding a market in Europe and the United States where he said "people were more affected from stress because of the fast, modern and materialistic lives".

However, there are still plenty of patients in India as the stress of urban life takes its toll.

Batra said homeopathic medicine was a 6.3 billion-rupee ($140-million) annual business in India and growing at 25 percent each year.

"I believe in spreading the message of positive health. Today it is not the absence of disease that makes a man healthy, but his mental, physical and spiritual well-being," said Batra (53) who studied in Britain and the United States.

Batra is travelling around India holding sessions on ways to relax and eliminate stress. In Chandigarh, one technique he recommended was known as "colour therapy".

"Blue is a very soothing colour for the mind. A group of women suffering from arthritis dipped their hands in blue colour and got relief from pain. So if you sleep on a blue bedspread wearing blue pyjamas, you will get a good sleep," Batra said.

"It is better not to watch news on television before going to bed. Confine your television sets to the drawing room. Instead if you listen to music, which has 72 beats (per minute) like our heartbeat, you will have a sound sleep."

Some of Batra's clinics are designed to address specific problems, like one in Mauritius, the Indian Ocean island where 20 percent of the people suffer from diabetes, compared with a world rate of two percent.

"We know Mauritius to be a tourists' paradise but it has the highest number of teenage suicides because children have to appear for an examination after the fifth grade which determines whether they can study more," Batra said.

"Deprivation," he added, "adds to depression".

"It is necessary to maintain a balanced diet. It is also important to have dinner with the family. The idea of a candlelight dinner is not only romantic but also therapeutic."

AFP