Adventures in India

Q

ADVENTURES IN INDIA

-

PETER

WILDE

Peterfuljils a dream, exploring the traditional oils and remedies offolk medicine in India

A

s a

young

student research

years

with

become stories

an

of

dreamed

could

had

procedures knowledge

abundance I

have

the

as “Phytols”) inquiries

new

as much

traditional which

they

as I

healing

are

common

cook

and widely used in India.

spice houses.

Whilst

for and

(now known many

growers

and

give the

would

come

of

that

thousand our

back

years

new of

medicinal

at 3 o’clock

was

little

it would the

of

anecdotes

in

morning

of juvenile

the

space

with

herbs.

from

country, restrict

I

might, yield many

Board

of India,

World

Spice

Congress

therefore

received

an

spice

of the

to attend

The

in Cochin, growers

to

about

It was with child-like answered

the previous

my itinerary

I had

months.

with

care. I would try to see pepper and tuberose

with

Poverty

survive they

great

lathes

few

beautiful

for longer

any

over

I

than

numbers must

farms,

and mogra

lived

sanitation,

and powerful

with

“City Palace”

covering

trees.

These

people

never

owned

anything

have

no prospect

the

probably

and appear

of ever

a strong

the a

and

a

to

of towns

several

and

must

seven

and

in marble,

years

He

facade

red acres

remarkable ago,

by a

to chart

of the sun,

planets.

have

civilised

ils beautiful

who wanted

beautiful

once

constructed

hundred

Maharaja

stomach

wealthy,

massive

“observatory”

movements

owning

the which

- “The Pink City”. This

water,

and sleeping

have

need

enormously

over

make boxes

product

in Rajasthan

cooking

on

the hand

such as Agra.

city

without

heads,

they

wheels

they

been

in

running

hand

heaps

marble

live

they lie in the dust under

also of the

the

moon,

stars

built

the

“Palace

of

Winds”.

However,

even

the

are fastidious personal

with

a single

they

may

hundreds

which

inlaid

to visit Jaipur

a week.

21st poor

and working

on

You

could

of people

have

their

lives

where

their

changing

will

unimaginable

Age - without

women

collected,

a

the

of the

out second

the great

I

wealth

which

wood fires in the streets

excitement

all the inquiries

visit jasmine

side

Substantial as

that great

in

from

auto-rikshas

the

of Dickensian

beating

of this

anything.

that I reviewed over

not

roof

this new technology.

I planned

by

Stone

Indian

the Chairman

Spices

tell the world’s

side

poverty.

have

of

are already

children

in conditions

tin cans

and

life

are the principle

without

year,

from

folk

work

intelligent,

in the electronic

of the

available

to

launder

children

terminology

harshness,

but

myself

It is true

than

the

my delight

last

a

and

of

eyed,

little

century,

and

impressions

and then

wash up and

the bright

me to fill

of my experiences

wonderful to

in the

short

to me here

try

landing

be very easy for

rest

more

which

varieties

Imagine

has

technology,

remedies

hundreds

invitation

India

Ayurvedic

stretching

magical

Delhi

upon

platitudes. knew

tradition medicine

My excitement

hair can

their families’ clothes.

fluent

from India. 1 also

a meal,

religious

and

completely

process,

which would

all over,

and wealthy

fragrant

“Phytols”

their their

industrious

I knew that many of the

materials finest

out wash

Could new

Indian

carry

smart

our

plants

can

observances, themselves

of

we have received

from

when,

and nutmeg

learn

always

there.

Phytonics

oils from

three

fields

and

about

I had been

developing

extracting

using

turmeric

plantations

be this fascinating?

Advanced

plant

He

friend.

by his

Whilst

flavour

a

for three

Indian.

going

growers,

shared

India. of

anywhere

graduate

had

laboratory

my closest

fascinated

very

post I

hygiene. bucket have

of meters

poorest

in respect

Today, of

Amazingly,

of water carried on their

(that

disgusting, bodies the

however

of long

streets,

many

terms

with

heads)

cows,

camels,

it

stinking dead

rats pigs,

slum. animals

compete goats,

monkeys

is

a

The lie in

on equal donkeys, to turn

over

the

festering

garbage

heaps

of

into

the

thrown

streets

by the inhabitants,

top

of

threw

the

out yesterday

clearly

been

every

day for

years.

on

garbage

kindly

Cochin

out

hundreds the

was

and had

throwing

Here

One Saturday morning,

they

taken

pepper

emaciated

by

Spices Limiled

we were

of

a bus

provided to

farm.

belongs

and visit

The

to the

a

farm

champion

cows look like black bin-liners

pepper

stuffed with coat-hangers.

who was, that very day, to be

grower

presented

in the area

with his prize for

the quality of his husbandry. For five hours we dustily Udaipur also

on the other

in Rajasthan,

Zanadu.

Here

stately

must

indeed

pleasure

“City

Lhe serene mirrored

to float in

tranquil

lake

trapped

water

palaces

haloes

on an the

owned

These

resembles

this

shopping,

and

The

If Heaven

it will be doing

I came

to the

is no

just

as

such

very

there

is

as Europe

- only

of “states”

each

in character, religion,

the

of India.

Hotel,

built

long

backwaters only

seagoing

for rice boats

and down by their ancient

the

ferry,

Maria” “African

rupee Island

the

are boiled.

This

fresh

kills the roots

It also

releases

turmeric

powdery

onto the surface and

As a producer intrigued

to dry and become

by this. I resolved to find some so that I could - perhaps

of like

on clothes lines by

pendulous

pineapple

jack

fruit

and cardamom coffee

and

plantations,

plantations,

banana

groves and sugar cane. By the roadside, stall holders crush

worse

and refreshing

on the teeth

for the very first time - extract turmeric

pepper The

one

slow

scrambling then

Eventually,

and

one

attributed

to turmeric

by the thermal this process turmeric

oil are enhanced

damage inflicled

on il by

- known as “polishing”.

My

roots are now germinating

in

Nutmeg,

I knew

was also

of mace which encloses

and back,

should

know was that the mace and the nut are

you wish

to buy

a tonne

or cashew

nuts

the

themselves

last

appear

for

growing

crop in a hurry. pepper

vines,

up shade trees, take eight or only

a further

bunches

as tiny grapes.

when

they are ready.

climb

swaying

bamboo

the

the nut

of Mattamcherry

of tea or

growing

in

six years.

of green

berries

Some

turn red

Nimble

up perilous

pickers 20 meter

pole ladders to harvest them by

hand.

the conservatory. source

we

down a

nine years to bear their first fruit and

believe

up

goes

as a primary

but

effects

than anything

dusty track was the pepper farm.

oil which had not been cooked. I camlot that the many beneficial

is

but must be

have in the west. Eventually,

and

in a membranous

pharmacists.

obscene

No

of natural oils, I was

village

Ayurvedic

hanging

the side of the road to dry) papaw trees,

has several

the yellow

pigment

living rhizomes

of

or visit

(neat squares

delicious

named for

yellow handkerchiefs

tea and

root

market

pepper

island

red/brown

trees

everywhere

which, flavoured with fresh lime juice,

(2~) take you from Wellingdon to the

(neat slender

rubber

during storage.

families.

will

rhizomes

resembling

and no cats. We drove

through lush groves of mango trees, rice

and therefore

the

reminiscent Queen”,

turmeric

they are harvested,

allows the rhizomes

shores

aptly

Immediately

very hard making them easier to grind.

boats

dogs, goals, pretty jersey cows,

soil but

as waterways

resident

(no one could tell me their latin

names).

gardens

and paddled

play near

in

Malabar

freighters

poled

are

as

their

prevents them sprouting

complicated

fishing

These

and “fingers”

doing

is

of sea lagoons.

serve

for

offered.

as “potatoes”

out

is

- the

overlooking

fingers

not

“Ave

Taj

routinely

known

of turmeric

pigs

for all the world

fresh sugar cane and offer you the juice

coast

sea

The

terraces

The

the

on the

in exquisite

“Backwaters”,

Dolphins

itself

arc two sorts

buffaloes,

effects. It not only cleans off some of the

there

Cochin

Arabian

Venice

interlacing

south,

- which was

arc brass

of busy black

were

but no rabbits paddies,

ginger)

deep

a

raw rubber

thcrc

roots

every way.

of islands

corroded

different

of information

revealed

that

Tamil

language,

my holiday,

warm

with dining

place

exhibition

new to me - for example, I did not know (haldi)

-

collection

food,

in Ihe

water.

a collection

such

completely

I started

abundant of

no

in almost

that

as India

a loose

dress,

In Cochin where

conclusion place

conference

multitude

well. there

they

though

hotels,

to any in the world

by the Maharanee.

of bells,

looking

mountains.

horns

with shiny

families

Climbing up swaying bamboo ladders to harvest pepper

life, whose

painted

decoraled

are now magnificent

comparable

of animal bullocks

brightly

“Lake

seem

the

camels

Palace”

island

way to Madras,

villages heaving with

all manner

the

white

half

Ihrough

is “a

Palace”

between

jolted

bc

dome”

breathtaking and

hand,

sheath. What I did not

enclosed

in a spongy ouler

bunch

The fruits are separated

from the

by hand and collected

in huge

sieves which are then submerged

in

vats

of boiling water. They are then poured onto m&s laid out in the sun to drain

shell which is used to make a delicious

and dry. Within

revitalising cordial tonic.

result of the boiling, they have all turned

twenty minutes,

as a

black and will soon dry into beautiful

Throughout

shiny beads

continuing

- the finest

black

pepper

my holiday,

I had been

the plant recommended

my quest for folk remedies,

Vaidyas

(Ayurvedic

by the friendly

physicians)

and in

corns. I had often wondered why I could

listening carefully to the lore of my hosts

the text books. If all goes well, I should

never

from Cochin in the south to Udaipur in

be able to make small quantities of ‘Tulsi

the north of India. One plant had been

Phytol”

mentioned

growing plants laler this year.

persuade

pepper

corns

to

germinate. Our farmer also grows cardamom. What a surprise,

this tall bamboo

plant puts out insignificant from

its base,

blooms.

The

behind

bearing

like

flower stalks

delicate

cardamom

pink

pods develop

by everyone

remarkable

plant

recommended extraction

was

universally

in our new process.

(Otimum sanctum) is venerated

the flowers and are shiny green

worshipped throughout

in the Hindu

into the white pods with which we are

unlike

familiar. The halvesting

which we are familiar.

India.

basil

(Ocimum

widely praised

to be Trachyspermum -

is quite with

basilicum)

plant

- Yavani in Sanskrit (an Umbeliferae,

Tulsi

religion

next year and a few in

India for its restorative powers is Ajowan

- almost

This plant

available

Another

to me as likely to reward

globes which will be harvested and dried of these pods is

- “Tulsi”. This

said

Indian

ammi).

friends tell me that the English name for this plant

is “Bishopweed”.

Again

I

brought some seed home and this too is growing

in the

greenhouse

and,

if

hot, arduous, dusty and dangerous

successful, will yield new herb oil. I

work as there are always the snakes.

have

After drink

a lunch

from

decapitated strokes

with milk

coconuts

to

freshly

prepared

small

of “Ajowan seed Phytol”

for testing.

by our host with a few

of his machete,

already

amounts

Bishop’s Wort (St. Catherine’s

we were

Flower)

proves

to be

another

taken to the village cinema, already

popular Ayurvedic remedy, in India

packed.

We

called

enthusiastically

as one long speech

followed

applauded

another,

praising

Nigella

common

the

us

Farmers - men and women

catarrhes,

with

- who

pride

embarrassment.

of

course

understand

(there

is no such thing

lunch)

After three hours we began

Its

is “Black Lells

this plant “cureth all murs,

that

dricth

and

WC did not

Kalorlji.

name

Cumin” or “Gith” and Gerard

industry and virtue of the winning squirmed

or

English

rheumes

and the pose,

the brain and restoreth

the

sense of smelling, as Galen saith: “it

a single word

is a most excellen the Chelsea

as a free

remedie”“.

Physic garden

At

Nigella

sativa is said to be “the Digesler” and

our return bus ride to Cochin.

controls

several

gastric

disorders. The Neem Tree

Coimbatore fields Here

was whcrc

of jasmine

intoxicating

plants

(Azadiruchla

Meliaceae)

is the

study by several

who have much greater resources

However,

than

us.

it may be worth noting

that the seeds, root bark, stem bark Tuberoseflowers tomorrow

I had taken with me.

The rows of jasmine

of intense

oil

for the first time in the portable equipment

subject available

fresh

exquisite jasmine

family

companies

I found

and tuberose.

I wks able to extract

Zndica

opening

and

leaves

Ayurvedic

One

(Jasminun

- ready for picking

of its names

translates

as

several

oils

are

all

medicine

some

used

in

and yield

of which

contain

“Mother of the Universe”. It is said thal

“‘Azddiractin” listed as a bitter, hair tonic

six foot high bushes and every year the!

“no disease visits the house

and useful in skin diseases, by Martindale

are cut down

to short

cow and a Tulsi at its doorstep”.

recover

to flower

grandiflorum)

grow very vigorously into

and

sticks

only

even

L(

more

vigorously next season. Fields

of tuberose

(Polyanthe

sprouting

me

and

these

in my garden.

are

The

nov

oil fron

that afflict

“all the

mankind

can be

scale

are

(claimed Night

Mogra, to induce

Queen

on an industria Jasmine sexual

(&slum

Champaca and Mimosa.

Samba< interest) nocturnum:

the potential

medicines,

of these

I reflected

that it

the

of men,

bring a new synthetic drug to the shelves

disorders

preparations

are harvested

Considering natural

now costs many millions of US dollars to

of the perfume which

who “rear it in

used as dental floss.

..are never ill”. Most of

children

flower:

the

healing,

their courtyard

these flowers forms a major componcn “Poison”. Other

Apart

repel insects and the petioles are widely

uplifting,

cured by Tulsi” people

with

Pharmacopoeia.

Claims made l6r it include puri+ing air, spiritual

roads. back

in the British

from this, the leaves xue said to kill and

diseases

some bulb:

Many

truly believe it 10 be the “Elixir of Life”.

tubcrosu) can be seen on both sides of’the I was able to bring

that has a

and by

of Tulsi. Apart from all this

it repels mosquitoes to acquire

women

are said to be controlled

and flies. I was able

some Tulsi seeds and these

are now germhlating

in the greenhouse.

of pharmacies

in the USA. I have also

heard it said that three quarters American afford

population

medical

of the

can no longer

insurance.

Perhaps,

in

India it may be posible to find remedies

I can hardly wait for them to grow and to

in common

extract the oil from the various parts of

them and us.

AROM*THERAPY

use which might help treat

spring

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