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Tuesday 5 November 2013

TAKE A CUE, AYURVEDA TO THE RESCUE!

Children are our future, they are our legacy to posterity! It is the example which we set today that generations to come would follow and emulate in their daily living as precedents set by their ancestors. While we continue with our relentless tirade against global warming, corruption and discuss the latest fads in the fashion and entertainment world, it is time we did a reality check on our lifestyle too which is taking a backseat, especially on our food, health and nutrition which has undergone a sea-change right from the moment we stepped into this world as a child till date. It is because 'Health is Wealth' and there can be no greater treasure than the wellness of the body, mind and soul! 

Image Courtesy: www.experienceayurveda.com
I remember as a child on how my parents instilled some precious nuggets of Ayurveda by incorporating it in our daily living instead of imparting them as mere information or general knowledge. It was an unsaid rule that if anybody had a common cold, they would get a cup of freshly squeezed lime with a table-spoon of honey and a ginger-honey juice if there was a tummy trouble; we didn't rely on Allopathy or synthetic preservative based products when the cure was right here in Mama's kitchen! So I could demand for a lemon-honey or a ginger-honey concoction and enjoy it as a juice without throwing a fuss much to the relief of my parents! Another quickie was when my mom would simply pluck one or two leaves of holy basil (tulsi) and give them to me to chew which I loved because of it's refreshing taste. For skin rashes and blisters she'd bathe me with Neem leaves soaked in hot water and as for head baths,it was always with Shikakai soap (which in fact I still use!). Now when it came to toothaches (thanks to my fondness for chocolates!),then cloves it was, though that was pungent for my taste but I gradually began to like it! So,that's how simple life was some decades ago! Contrary to that I even remember how my friends use to cry at the sight of medicines or run for cover when their mommies took out their bottle of syrups and tonics from their medicine boxes and would forcefully administer them for fever, stomach infections or common cold and how I remember the aftermath of this whole exercise -  some funny and crying faces of the distasteful bitter syrups!! I also remember how they'd keep their mouths puffed up and spit it all out upon meeting me! I vividly recall those moments and I can't help smiling about it over and over again on our childhood tryst with medicines! 

Image Courtesy: www.encyclopedia.com
Medicine was after all just a perspective - it was about manufactured pre-packed bottles versus nature's garden and a constant tug-of-war between Allopathy and Ayurveda - where of course in the long run, Ayurveda always emerged a winner in terms of complete cure to the problem with zero side-effects and minimum cost incurred!

Years later when I grew up I had to travel often on account of my work, I remember how I was on the other side with the same predicament which my childhood friends had faced when I had to pop pills and take syrups for headaches, fever, cough or cold and the side-effects it had on my body. For someone who was introduced to the gems of Ayurveda in one's childhood, Allopathy obviously didn't do me any good at all when the symptoms would aggravate and I'd have side-effects in the form of rashes and allergies and above all I couldn't concentrate on the task at hand for I would feel drowsy after taking the pills. And worst of all,the symptoms would keep recurring in some form or the other which never happened to me as a child, the time of your life when one is most vulnerable to such infections and diseases. Thanks to Ayurveda, I was a healthy baby and had a strong immune system...I remember spending a childhood indulging in so much outdoor sports and activities, that my parents often found it difficult to get me back home to study! And, I didn't disappoint them on that front either! :)

So, when I was faced with this bout of health problems at an adult age of a weak digestive system, fever, headaches; I had to consciously tell myself, "Sonaal, what are you doing?" "Why are you playing with your health?" "You sure know the real cure to these problems?"  It was then that I consciously decided to throw my medicine box away and revert back to Ayurveda - the age-old and sure shot remedy to restore good health be it for intake or even for external applications like skin or hair. 

Today with the coming of the digital age together with the influx of the internet in our lives,it is so much easier to learn and grow in the community of Ayurveda with the numerous remedies available for different problems one is faced with by learning from other's experiences shared via different social medias. In fact today, more and more pharma companies are veering towards Ayurveda keeping in mind the preferences and priorities of their consumers. 

When I think of Ayurveda, I realize that everyone's life is in some way blessed by the gift of nature but we have turned a blind eye to it on it's essential capabilities and the powers it has to restore normalcy and equilibrium in one's life. 

Image Courtesy: www.layoga.com
Ayurveda is just everywhere be it in one's kitchens or in one's gardens! You have Neem, Babool, Amla, Aloe Vera, Eucalyptus in gardens and parks, Holy Basil (Tulsi) in your courtyards while Ginger, Garlic, Lemon, Turmeric,Cloves in your kitchens. All in all - Ayurveda has always been an integral part of our lives in some form or the other except that we have overlooked it's importance and benefits in the search of some quick fix remedies or perhaps somewhere got influenced by the different medias like advertisements and got carried away in this consumerist world! 

After all, let's not forget even the seers and sages mastered the A's to good health before they reached Z!  

This 'A' is no rocket science, it simply means Ayurveda which is Accessible, Affordable, Available!  And it's high time we adopted this magic mantra too!!

Cheers to 'A' good health!

This post was written for the 'Traditional Knowledge, Natural Growth' contest at Indiblogger in association with Dabur Lal Tail

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