Folk
medicine is one of my favourite interests and the subject is very close to my
heart. I always wanted to write them down and it took almost two and a half
years to complete the same, after managing a high pressure job of heading the
ICSE High School working 8 hours a day. But I am satisfied that the book has
come out really well; it has been a true labour of love.
I
had travelled to Srilanaka to participate in an International Poetess
Conference to receive an award " Sanghmitra of the Age" This was organised by AIPC (All India Poetess
Conference) conceived and headed by Dr Prof Lari Azad
My Book was released there on 9th October 2012. The chief guest Hon. Mr
Ramachandran, Director, Indian Culture Centre, Colombo released my book.
This book was later presented to Assistant High Commission of India,Hon Mr
Natarajan who instantly praised the book and said it is the need of the hour
and this book is useful for every home and every family
. Seen in the above photograph are Prof. Lari Azad, Hon Mr Natarajan and Dr
Arundhati Govind Hoskeri
Dr CJ Hemantkumar and Dr Indrani Hemant Kumar
were happy to write the foreword for my book
FOREWORD
It gives us great
pleasure in writing the foreword of this book on “HOME REMEDIES FOR COMMON
AILMENTS”.
Home remedies
for ailments came to evolve over centuries due to the absence of modern
medicine and paucity of doctors. Their effectiveness led them to be spread by
word of mouth through generations. Made of routinely used and easily
available materials, these remedies offer a cure for simple ailments and at
times help to tide over critical periods. These remedies are best used
before rushing to a doctor for minor ailments as they are easy to prepare and
have virtually no side effects besides the occasional allergy which is in
contrast with modern medicine that has its own side effects and has to be taken
for a specific period. One remarkable aspect about home remedies is that they
offer immediate relief with a minimal dose. This book eloquently reveals the inherent healing
properties of common ingredients used in food in our day to day lives.
Arundhati Hoskeri
has written a practical handbook for the entire family. When you look up the
illness in question you will find all the relevant herbal recipes and
treatments, together with instructions for their preparation and use. After
reading this book you feel amazed by the tremendous amount of natural healing
power our own kitchen and pantry holds. She has presented the recipes for
glowing health in a very lucid and clear manner.
Nearly one hundred seventy ailments are covered in this
book, which are alphabetically arranged and easy to locate. Arundhati is a
multi linguist who fluently speaks in eight Indian languages other than
English. She has thus listed the ingredients in six Indian languages (Hindi,
Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil) other than English so that it is
easy to refer for one and all. A quick
reference table showing the usefulness of common fruits and vegetables is very
informative. Beauty and Skin Care section has some very interesting Beauty
Masks and treatments.
Most of the ailments cover Cause, Symptom and Remedies in a
very systematic way. Arundhati is a structured thinker and a passionate seeker
of knowledge, who always goes beyond the books / course curriculum of whatever
studies she undertakes.
She is a multifaceted personality with a keen interest and a
penchant for learning newer things. Her diverse interests range from writing
poignant and romantic poetry to studying Gemmology, Astrology and Naturopathy.
After publishing a collection of her poems, titled “MINDSCAPES” she has now
added another feather to her hat by writing a book on home remedies. We
can expect many more such wonderful and helpful books from her.
We sincerely hope you enjoy reading this book, as much as we
did.
Dr. C. J. Hemant Kumar Dr. Indrani Hemant Kumar
MBBS, MS, M Ch, FIACS
MBBS, MD, DA,DNB
Cardio-Vascular and Thoracic Surgeon Professor of Anaesthesiology, BYL Nair
Hospital
Jaslok Hospital
Mumbai and Topiwala
National Medical College, Mumbai
Read my preface to know more:
PREFACE:
This modern scientific age with its innovations and research
in the field of medicine has no
doubt increased human longevity, made
our life comfortable and everything available at our fingertips but at the same
time, too much of dependency on machines without any physical strain has also
created health hazards. The so called life style diseases like Hypertension
(high blood pressure), Diabetes, Heart attacks have started targeting the
younger generation.
Everybody is chasing something or the other in life! Too much stress at work place, irregular
eating habits, and erratic ways of combating problems, giving in to smoking,
alcohol and drugs is taking a heavy toll on health.
Having studied Natural Health Sciences, I realised popping Allopathic pills for every
minor health problem is not a must. In fact our kitchen is an excellent store
house of medicine. All the consumable food ingredients have a lot of curative
property which when taken, help in curing ailments without any harmful effect
on the human system. I will be giving some very effective remedies which are
tested and have given best results. The common ailments selected here are
useful for every age group.
My request to the readers is to apply and follow these
remedies judiciously, especially those who are suffering from ailments like
Hypertension, Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Heart ailment or any other
such disease that has dependency on prescribed medication. You can definitely
try these natural remedies that are effective and harmless, BUT DO NOT TRY TO
STOP OR ALTER YOUR EXISTING MEDICATION WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR REGULAR
PHYSICIAN / DOCTOR FIRST.
Having been brought up in a highly educated South Indian
family, which had a multi cultural embrace has been a great influence in my
life. My grand mother, my mother and my father have had a home remedy for
almost every minor ailment at the tip of their tongue and they have really
worked on us beautifully. So right from my child hood I have been imbibing them
naturally and my interest in folk medicine became a kind of fascination. I
always keep my ears and eyes open and seek information.
Whenever we took a
break to escape from the cement jungle, whether it is forests of Bandipur or Ranthambore or Nepal or Kerala or Thailand
, after everybody else would be taking afternoon naps , I used to go and talk
to the gardeners, hotel chefs, old caretakers and so on and gather information
about folk medicine.
When I visited Nepal, a Leech got into my shoe and I was
unaware of the oozing blood till I removed my shoe. When I tried to pull it off
my ankle, I could not get rid of it. Then a hotel staff member rushed to me
with a fistful of salt and Turmeric and a burning candle. He first held the
flame of a candle very close to the Leech and removed it and immediately
pressed salt and turmeric and tied a cloth around it and the bleeding stopped.
When we were holidaying at Ranthambore, a Bengali woman, a
masseur, told me about a root called
Ishermul with which she had terminated the unwanted pregnancy of her daughter.
A nasty pimple on my chin would not go away for more than a
month and was very painful, my gardener
one day saw it and brought a piece of Aloe Vera leaf and asked me to
apply its gel. The very next day the pimple started shrinking.
My grandmother used to prepare a concoction with cotton
seeds for Stomatitis (ulcers in mouth) which cured them in 2 to 3 days.
I have such many anecdotes to tell.
I would make note of all these things and would read about
the active principle / medicinal value of that ingredient. When I studied
Naturopathy, it was purely out of my passion for folk medicine.
Today people are fed up with modern medicines which give
them quick relief but not without side effects and so slowly they are turning
towards safer Alternative Medicines. There are so many books available in the
market on the same subject, but whatever books I have come across are not user
friendly. Some are written in anecdotal form, some mention a lot of rare roots
and herbs which may not be accessible to a common person. I really wanted to put these useful remedies
in print in such a way that they are easy to follow, easy to refer and the
ingredients are easy to access mainly from our own kitchen.
I have worked on this book for two years; I really hope and
wish that this book will be useful for all. I have covered 166 ailments and 33
preparations (recipes). This wealth bank of Folk Medicine is so vast that I
need to keep updating it all my life. I have suggested a list of remedies for
every single ailment. The readers can pick up any one as per their choice.
I hope this book will be useful to all readers, and I am
eager to get your feedback and suggestions.
Dr. Arundhati Govind Hoskeri
Mumbai
Mr. Das Gajula on 09820130718
Printed and Published
in September 2012
Number of pages: 240
Cost of the book : Rs 300 /- and Postal charges as
applicable
Free delivery in
Mumbai and Navimumbai, Thane
