Healthy with haldi ….

Fighting COVID 19 with turmeric.

As a senior citizen I had thought I had seen it all. The good and the bad, failure, success, happiness, sadness, sickness… everything!

Of course, life is unpredictable ! I have lived my entire life, never taking things for granted. Just when you think you have sorted everything out, plan to relax, and let your guard down a new challenge comes up!

We, humans, are resilient. I strongly believe that in the face of the indomitable, collectively we can rise to the situation and overcome any crisis.

I spent my entire life as a social being, spending time with family, friends, meeting lots of people on a daily basis, travelling during holidays, discovering the richness and diversity of my country and the world. Born in India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, “social distancing” and “staying alone” was never ever an option that we thought we would ever have to consider.

Yet, today COVID 19 and the threat of the medical emergency each country faces has changed everything. What started off as distant, is already at our doorstep.

All governments, including ours, are doing the right thing. From just being a term “social distancing”, is now a reality.

Indians have a lot to fear as one of the most densely populated countries of the world. Besides, our families are large and dependent on each other and living in emotional and physical proximity has been the norm. Family ties are strong and living in isolation is a challenge for most of us.

At this juncture, we are all fighting hard to avoid the catastrophe, that other first world countries who got inflicted earlier, are facing. We collectively, as a nation need to find our own solutions and methods to combat this deadly infectious virus.

While most of us are being socially responsible and complying with the safety measures doctors, government officials and common sense are dictating, there are so many in our country who are unable to do so because of their economic circumstances.

How do we combat and defeat this virus?

Takes me back to my childhood. I am now remembering all the little things my grandmother did to keep us healthy and strong. Dependence on medicine was minimum and it was home remedies which fortified and boosted our immunity.

Today, we need to do the same. We Indians, use turmeric in all our curries and most dishes. Turmeric is hot milk at night can help greatly as a mood enhancer and in inducing sleep, healing of wounds and building up immunity.

Its anti inflammatory and anti bacterial properties are now being recognised the world over and are being marketed as capsules, chocolates and lattes in cafes all over.

Sore throats were not as common in the past as is today. Higher pollution levels have caused us numerous allergies and ailments. My granny would always insist we gargle with warm saline water before sleeping. A habit which has held me in great stead all these years.

We would often skip rubbing our gums with salt for the tediousness and time it took. However today I realise that so many kinds of toothpaste have salt in it as a recognition to its value in killing germs in the mouth.

Chapped lips in winter… my granny had a simple solution. She would make us put warm mustard oil in our navel and woe and behold the next day our lips would be fine. We were asked to put mustard oil into our nostrils to prevent dryness and kill the germs.

A morning ritual, despite being from a family that did not eat garlic and onions, was swallowing a clove of garlic with water to prevent acidity and build up immunity.

Neem leaves were put into our bathing water for its medicinal and disinfectant properties. Dried leaves were even placed amongst our clothes as a disinfectant.

Tea was medicinal too. During the rainy season she would add tulsi or basil leaves in the tea. Her theory was that it would protect you from Malaria. Dengue and chicken guniya were non-existent then.

Ginger, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper were all ingredients that were added to the tea as per the requirement.

Stomach aches, or cramps were treated with a spoonful of warm ajwain or bishop’s weed to be swallowed with water. For loosies, we were asked to swallow a spoonful of methi seeds or fenugreek with cold milk to settle our stomach.

We ate lots of oranges in winter. Eating gooseberries, a local inexpensive berry gave us adequate vitamin c. Playing outdoors, by ourselves or with our friends gave us the required amount of. vitamin d.

Every evening camphor was burnt in a small terracotta lamp to purify the air at home.

There may be no scientific justification, yet these were home remedies that worked and kept us healthy and away from hospitals. The need of the hour is to stay away from hospitals.

Faith and positivity are what we need to face this unique and formidable enemy with. Life is short, and must be lived fully and if for a short while we have to give up all our activities it is worth it.

Secure your future by being wise today. Stay healthy and fit for…..

“you and me and the entire human race”.