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With disposable hair nets on their heads and booties on their feet guests are led into the therapy chamber with its high, salt encrusted walls. There they step onto a floor comprising fine snowy white salt where feet sink in as if they are walking on sand. Reclining chairs with colorful cushions and footstools invite them to relax to soft background music. As the door closes, the lights dim and the experience begins. Welcome to Salt Escape, the wellness center located in the heart of Bombay’s original business hub at Fort, just off Horniman Circle.
The venture of trained chartered accountant Lyla and mechanical engineer Jamsheed Mehta, both 37, this wellness center uses salt therapy to mitigate the distressing symptoms of respiratory as well as skin conditions. During each hour long session guests breathe in salt particles blown into the air conditioned chamber via a sophisticated machine which is calibrated according to the guests’ requirements. The pharmaceutical salt, imported from Germany, converted into aerosol form, enters the lungs and helps improve breathing, truly a boon in a city like Bombay where endemic air pollution has resulted in a large percentage of the population suffering from asthma, rhinitis and major disorders like cystic fibrosis for which they have to depend on strong drugs and medicated pumps to obtain relief, the duo states. Often the active ingredients are steroids which have dangerous side effects with long term use. Salt therapy is a natural alternative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mehta couple was introduced to this therapy while on a visit to the United Kingdom where Jamsheed, who has rhinitis, spent time in The Salt Cave, a center which they state has received recognition from Britain’s National Health Service. They decided to import the technology from The Salt Cave into the country. "Salt therapy, also known as halotherapy, is a completely natural, non-invasive and drug free treatment for relieving symptoms caused by congestion, inflammation and allergies of the respiratory system and skin based on the cleansing and healing properties of salt,” mentions literature available at the wellness center. As far back as 1843 a health official in Poland had documented that workers in salt mines had a remarkably low rate of respiratory disease. During World War II, a German doctor noted that patients who took shelter in salt caves benefited greatly. In the 1960s, "salt rooms” were developed in Russia and Eastern Europe to simulate the conditions in salt mines and that’s how the therapy developed.
"There is no need for a doctor to specify any conditions,” Lyla responded to Parsiana’s queries. "If a client has a specific condition and lets us know about it, we enter the setting on the machine accordingly to regulate the size of salt particles being blown into the room.” Though there is no promise of cure, and several sessions are advised depending on how long the guest has had the problem, many have experienced relief, as attested in testimonials given by guests at The Salt Cave that the Mehtas have brought from the UK. Soon, they hope to have testimonials from their own guests regarding the efficacy of the therapy! For children it "is a wonderful option… as a complementary therapy to help cleanse and relieve the uncomfortable and painful symptoms of respiratory and skin conditions,” the brochure explains. Salt Escape was functional for some weeks before its official opening on June 21, 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wi-fi facility is available inside the rooms, though there is poor mobile connectivity. Reading material is also provided, though many are lulled to sleep in the tranquil setting. Guests are offered steaming hot green tea after sessions. There are no plants on the premises to preclude the possibility of allergens affecting clients. When Parsiana visited the center an elderly lady connected to a mobile oxygen providing apparatus was seated in the reception section. She is a regular visitor to the center as formerly she used to fly to Bangalore where India’s first salt therapy center is located. Lyla mentioned that another client, a total stranger, walked in one day and booked himself for multiple sessions, having probably heard of the facility by word of mouth.
Salt Escape has three rooms, one for adults that seats seven at a time, another for children which is equipped with games, toys, television and other items of entertainment so that the little ones are happily occupied while receiving the beneficial therapy (under seven-year-olds need to be accompanied by an adult, with no charge for the latter), and a private room that seats two for those who prefer it or for guests who need to expose areas afflicted by skin problems so that the salt in the air can reach them and do its work. The adults and children’s rooms have about 2.5 tonnes of salt in each! A reception area, anteroom for storage and leaving one’s footwear, office, conference room and washroom are housed in the capacious premises. Two tall racks in the reception cum lounge display artistically lamps fashioned from Himalayan salt that are for sale. Salt Escape has a trained staff of receptionist, managers and cleaners.
A single session for adults or kids costs Rs 1,600 while the Discovery offer for Rs 5,000 entitles first time guests to five sessions in two weeks. Other packages for five to 30 sessions each range from Rs 7,500 to Rs 33,000. Memberships are available for various periods with one month costing Rs 16,000 and going up to Rs 65,000 for a year. Entire rooms can be rented by seven to eight persons at Rs 8,000 per session. Private room tariffs are proportionately higher.
Salt Escape is located at Kaiser-E-Hind Private Limited, Hanuman Building, ground floor, 300, Perin Nariman Street, behind Reserve Bank of India, Fort, Bombay 400001; tel: +91 22 22690034; +91 22 22690035; email: info@saltescape.in; website: www.saltescape.in