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remedies are interesting and rise to the situation immediately. Ready at
hand treatment helps to overcome simple problems.
 When
there was wilderness all around, man still fell ill. There was no ambulance,
no first aid. But is that true? How then did he survive? It is quite charming
when we look at the potions and remedies suggested by alternative medicines.
Man or perhaps woman just went out and by hit and trial learnt which lead
alleviated which pain. may be she began it as a placebo initially and later
learnt how intuitive she had been.Some vaids could just give you a piece of liquorice (mulethi) and tell you to chew it. But talking of chewing the vaid has something more interesting. He says just fry a few cloves in hot clarified butter and chew it and the cold will be gone forever. When the throat hurts to announce the arrival of a cold then the Mulagu kashayam is one recipe that never fails. With one teaspoon of black pepper powder, add three spoons of jaggery powder, mix and keep on fire till the jaggery melts. Remove When lukewarm, drink with quarter glass of milk. It will soothe the throat, given immediate relief to the cold and even stop if from increasing. Most indigenous systems of medicines are based on the chemical knowledge of nature around them. No wonder then that some of the remedies prescribed by them for certain common ailments are easy to access - they are not the pharmacy's secret. So commonly in use are the ingredients of such medicine and so well known are these remedies that they have come to be called grandmother's remedies. Generally the grandmother by virtue of being the eldest woman member of the family, was referred to when a child fell ill or developed fever or some such thing. It was an unwritten law. The grandmother would advise that these particular ingredients be ground to a paste, mixed with honey and administered. Sometimes if the suggestion was too simple the daughter-in-law would day she had already tried that. The grandmother would then suggest the next stronger medicine, It was experience that made her the head of the household's medical team. Rarely was the grandfather consulted for he was only the administrative head, he know nothing about nourishment or the items used for cooking and medicines that grandmothers prescribed were all items from the kitchen. Not all cures required internal medication. What a happened when a person developed hiccups? Drink water, you would suggest. If that did not work, you would suggest water with some sugar. Some say water with some sugar. Some say water with salt and yet others advise that you hold your breath, closing your ears and nose for a second. The foolproof remedy was when my grandmother, past eleven at night, rose from her bed when she heard me suffering with incurable hiccups. Head tousled and the spectacles half way up there, she stood pointing a finger accusingly at me "Why did you steal the money I had kept for milk on the radio?" she asked. "Me?" I asked incredulously. Would I ever steal my grandmother's money? And, worse did she think I would. My desperation cannot be worded. I thought my seventy five year old grandma had finally lost it. I do not know if it was grief or shock that I experienced. It only turned worse when my grandmother broke into peals of laughter. That kind of did it. There seemed to be no mistaking now. "Ha! There you are your hiccups have stopped and now let me get some sleep," announced the beautiful lady, her face still puckered with amusement. All this, I realized, was to stop my hiccups! A shock treatment. For the stomach which errs, try a few fresh leaves of the neem tree. Or else a drink prepared by boiling the seeds of cumin and ajwain (oregano) is very settling. People also suggest that a little fenugreek seeds be had with half a cup of curds. This again cools the stomach. Tibetan medicine advocates the sipping of warm water throughout the day, particularly in winter. This improves digestion and therefore improves the skin and keeps the system clean. Cloves are useful in toothache. Cloves are useful in toothache. Clove oil is excellent for toothaches. Says the vaid that another option for toothache is to place some asafoetida with salt near the aching tooth and hey presto relief will come to you within seconds. If the problem is earache, however, the solution is not so tasty. They suggest extracting the juice of garlic and allowing two drops into the ear, slightly warmed up. I am not sure if I would follow that remedy, but here is a better one, this time if you are feeling sick. Just fry the seeds of a few cardamoms, mix them with honey and this tasty concoction will leave you feeling much better. For indigestion, the hakim suggests that you take a little ajwain (oregano) and mix with a pinch of black salt. Squeeze a lemon over it and take it in small bits. It will bring your tummy back into shape. Or else mix the extract of mint, ajwain and camphor. Mix them and aff two drops at a time to a glass of water and down it. Your stomach can not but respond positively. For mild fever just grind a few tulsi (Indian basil) leaves with some black pepper and take a pinch of the mixture according to the hakims. For any remedy to be really effective, it should be administered with confidence and followed with faith. So too with grandmother's recip |
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