Monday 29 March 2010

In the shade of a neem tree



It is a season of chicken pox and we villagers have a festival this season, in which we give importance to the neem tree and its leaves.

It is not rare to see a person offering prayers to the neem tree with deep respect and humility in this part of the world.

Mariyatha festival is a sort of a pagan ritualistic festival where the neem tree and its leaves are offered and taken back as a gift from the gods for the welfare of the home.

Modern medicine finds that neem leaves have anti viral properties in them, their properties are enhanced when they are added to water, and kept in the sun in a copper vessel, to be given to the person who has chicken pox as the traditional bath, with neem paste and turmeric grounded in the stone and pestle the village style, and applied all over the body.

The ultra violet rays of the sun and the copper molecules of pyramidal shape, all help .

The diet made of cool tender coconut water and butter milk and a variety of bananas called monthai , and other cooling foods make the chickenpoxed one get the most attention at home.

Practically every one knows that keeping away from the engleeesh doctors( as the allopaths are called) is the best for this problem in this village.

Such methods may cause the social service folks to uproar in other countries I guess.

Well we have our ways.

I wonder where our ancestors had their schoolings!!

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