Home made remedies

It's interesting that world over, different cultures have different home remedies for the same old ailments. In India, as always taking diversity to the extreme, it often seems like each family has their own unique set of remedies that are passed on.

Four years ago, when my son was a few months old, I was visiting my relatives in Bangalore when he developed a streaming cold. I didn't want to give him allopathic medicine without his regular paediatrician's advice, and somehow I have never found homoeopathy to work for me - too impatient, I guess. My atte ( mama's wife) came up with something that literally dried up his cold that same day. It's so simple too, and works wonders on small babies. Just take 1 tsp of milk, put 3-4 strands of saffron into it, heat it and leave aside for a little while. It will thicken and turn yellow as the saffron is absorbed. Just apply this to your infant's nose periodically. The runny nose will stop in a couple of hoursw. After a few hours, out will come a big sneeze, and that's it!

My dad's side of the family used to brew up a tasty kashaaya for coughs, and given that I almost always had a cough, bronchitis and asthma when I visited them as a child, I sure had a lot of this. Interestingly, I recently discovered that many of the ingredients used are found in ayurvedic OTC cough mixtures:

Boil together - a few leaves of tulsi, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 few cloves and whole black peppers, 2 inch piece of cinnamon bark and a 1 inch piece of atimadara ( jyeshtha madu - called licorice root in English) - in a litre of water. Keep it simmering for a good 10 minutes after it comes to a boil. Serve it hot ( and if serving to adults, adding a tot of rum won't go amiss:)). It really soothes the throat, and tastes good. If you like, you can add a spoon of honey to this mix for older kids, though the licorice root adds sweetness on its own.

Over the years I've tried a variety of strange home remedies for my asthma, and found that many of them do provide at least temporary relief. One really bizarre thing that worked quite well was having black tea with salt. Another recipe from my ajji's kitchen was roast garlic. I remember her bedtime concoction for my coughs used to be hot milk with haldi and a tsp of ghee, which used to help me make it through the night.

Of course, the age-old remedy of steam inhalation is something that helps adults and kids with coughs and colds. I was really scared about my ability to be able to hold my child securely enough over boiling water so our doctor came up with an easy solution. We now just plug in an electric kettle filled with water under my son or daughter's bed, and make sure the doors and windows are tightly shut. All we have to keep watch for is that the water doesn't evaporate away!

An Intro.

Hi everybody! I am Shruthi. I have a five month old daughter, whom I refer to as Puttachi. I have been blogging at Hallucinations for nearly two years now.

Ever since I became a mom, I have found myself reading Mommy blogs, and it was then that I discovered DMC - I love it. I joined last month, then grew cold feet and told Sandeepa that I would stick to being a reader - but I changed my mind again, and thankfully, Sandeepa hasn't thrown me out yet, so here I am :D

More than anything, I look forward to advice and tips from all you experienced moms out there. And I hope I can contribute my mite too!

Hello, November!

Tharini brought the October discussion to a close with the words "confusingly warm and getting chillier November." Interestingly enough, that phrase sets the perfect path for the November theme I have in mind.

I picked the theme for this month to represent a snapshot of what most parents, at least those living in chilly climates, might be battling with this month, thanks to the aforementioned oscillating weather.

Hint: Itchy throat, stuffy nose, rising body temperatures, ear infections...

Yes, yes, all these make their ugly appearance around this time and so I have decided to label November as the season to be sniffling!

Not at all pleasant. Yet, not at all avoidable. Especially among kids, and all the more if the kids are in contact with more kids.

If we can't avoid it, can we make it any easier on them?

That is the intent with which I picked the theme for November - Alternative Medicine.

So we can share remedies that offer relief to the common cold/cough. Remedies that go beyond conventional, doctor prescribed or OTC medications. It can be anything from herbal concoctions, natural non-invasive treatments (like steam inhalation), Grandma's potions(paati vaidhyam) - anything that you've used in the past to success.

Don't forget - food is medicine too. Regularly adding certain foods that are rich in Vitamin C to your kid's diet helps them build immunity year long. What foods do you consider medicinal?

And finally, medicine for the soul - laughter, music, meditation, prayer. Have you used any of these to help you or kids during downtime? Have they worked?

While cold/cough/flu is the primary 'illness' this season, your posts don't have to be restricted to just that - relief for any common ailment in kids/infants - eg: constipation, indigestion - are also welcome.

Oh, and, if there are medical doctors (or doctors' wifes ;) ) and skeptics in the audience, I would love to hear your perspective...what do you think of alternative medicine? Do you practice it outside of your profession?

The intent of the theme is for us to share our experiences, not as advice, but as a compilation of resources. For the benefit of parents who want to look beyond allopathy. And since these tips will be based on personal experiences, it will go unsaid that whoever adopts these remedies will do so with common sense and precaution.

With your active participation, we can make the November dicussion a resourceful guide for all parents. (Then, Sandeepa can find a publisher, print it as a book and make us all famous ;))

Here's to a Healthy November! and To a United Battle against the Germs!

Wrapping up with a note of thanks...

[This post is written by Tharini of Winkie's Way.]

I don't have very many recollections of traditions that we had in our home as I grew. There were some little little things of course, but nothing, that stands out in my mind in the regularity of tradition. I guess perhaps, that I why, I chose this theme for DMC's October. I was curious how you would all react to this theme and what you would have to share by way of it. And it has been just wonderful. Reading each of the lively accounts, rich in warm memories, and love. Of togetherness and happiness. It was really nice. And it made me a little bit more resolved to start something of my own with the small family unit that I have here under my care. So, thank you all for bringing about this little change in me through your recollections and stories. Thanks for taking the time to think, and look back, and write it all down and share it here. And for making this theme work.

I guess this officially closes DMC's October discussion. And I am sooo... looking forward to what's in store for us in this confusingly warm and getting chillier November!

Do you have days like this ?

You have to, have to read this. It made my day at 8 in the morning and it will surely do yours too.

For fear of Plagiarism, I am not copying the article here.

Go read it Funny Woman's Unbelievably Busy day

New Blog

All of you mom bloggers have inspired me to start a separate blog about my kids. I was pretty hopeless about maintaining their baby books and usually lost interest after the first couple of months. But blogging about them is easy.

What's nice is that (hopefully) the blogs will always remain, which gives a new meaning to the words of the song from Shree 420 - Hum na rahenge, tum na rahoge, phir bhi rahengi nishaaniyan. I have already forgotten so many little little things about what my son or daughter used to do or say. If I preserve them in a blog, I will always be able to look back and reminisce. Even better, my kids can look back years from now, and read about what they said or did, what I felt at each stage of their growing up( even if the kids do at some stage find it embarrassing - which they will).

In fact, the thought occurs to me that most of us who knew our grandparents or great-grandparents only knew them as old people, and in their particular roles. My ajji always seemed old to me even though she was only 42 when I was born. Few of us would have gotten to know them as people, or even thought of them as such. Luckily for our generation of kids, they will have our blogs on various issues to help them understand the people we are or were, long after we are aged and decrepit!It's a wonderful way of preserving a family portrait.

So, for what it's worth, I'm now also blogging about my kids at http://rain-bowdays.blogspot.com

Navrathri - my tradition

This post is by Kodi's Mom of Kodimeow Kronicles

Navrathri - always reminds me of....not the silk clad maamis, not vetthalai paaku, not sundal, not little girls parading the streets, not carnatic music...
....but my grandfather. Yes, Navrathri reminds me of my grandfather...my mother's father..my Aaja.

All the more this year, for we celebrated with only his memory, his spirit.

In what I consider the golden days of my childhood, when Aaja was a retired, "active adult", I would be quite amused to see how he always took Navrathri very seriously. It didn't bother him much that this was socially labeled as a 'ladies festival'. For him it was a way to showcase his energy, passion, creativity.

Left to my grandma, she might have kept a quick 3 padi kolu (a kolu with 3 steps), made a sundal, and focussed on the puja, the invites and invitees.

Left to my aunt, the daughter in law of the house, she might have done an even simplified version of the above, for that's all she had time for, with twin boys, a full time job and a long commute.

But with my grandfather, Kolu took a different glow in our house.

A week before navrathri started, he would start the prepartions. Preparations meant walking down to the garden (they lived on the top floor of a two storey), digging up soil, walking back up with that load, cleaning that area along the back wall of the hall to make room for a 9 padi kolu and a miniature park, spreading the soil in the far corner, sprinkling it with water, making even rows with the eraser end of a pencil, lining it with mustard seeds in a perfect row, then watering that spot and...waiting. You see, he was trying to create a lawn effect. A pulveLi.
Amidst the lush green would be a snapshot of some busy Chennai junction - Parry's Corner or GN Chetty Road were his favorites. There would be a fountain in the middle. Perfectly straight two lane roads, marked by white chalk or rangoli powder. Billboards along the corner. Large matchboxes painted as Kumaran Stores and Nalli. Plenty of cars.

I don't recall ever seeing the an idyllic green or the luxury of a fountain in parched, hot-beyond-words Madras of those days - but it was all there in the kolu in Aaja's house. A futuristic Chennai...with more cars than two wheelers.

Once the basic elements of the park was in place, he'd proceed to set up the nine steps for the kolu, drape with a dhoti, dust the dolls, set them up in perfect order, giving due importance to the Gods and Goddesses. A whole afternoon's work would be reflected in the kaLai of the kolu. (the look of grace, elegance)

The kolu would look its best on day 3 or 4. When the mustard seeds would have sprouted and grown evenly to a 1-2 inch height. When all the dolls had been adjusted twice or thrice for the right effect. That's when the Maamis would start to arrive and ooh and aah at the whole spectacle. My grandfather would receede to the background only to show his face to family friends, and would graciously refuse any compliments that were directed his way. Oh, I didn't do much, it was all her (he'd point to me, while all I might have done was bring him the chalk). But there was a twinkle in his eyes those times, a suppressed smile, it was happiness like that of a child...happiness that his effort had brought joy to the beholder, that the details he put in were noticed and appreciated.

This tradition repeated itself not just a stray year or two, but every single year till he could no longer keep up with the physical demands. One of the last few years, the local newspaper gave his kolu a prize for the best in town.

I have missed my grandfather all year. I think of him often, but I missed him most during Navrathri.

Because of the foundation he laid, to me, Navrathri is not just another festival, not just another one of those gazillion traditions every desi family has. The tradition that he passed down to me, consciously or unconsciously, was the enthusiasm and spirit. How you take something from your parent's generation, add your own flavor to it and carry it forward, while keeping the intent of the tradition intact.

The intent of this one is to welcome the Goddesses of wealth, education, courage to your home. To socialize with friends and family. To give. How you implemented it was upto you.

This was our implementation this year...



No Dasavatharm set, or Ashtalakshmis, no wedding setup, - but a Japanese doll, a Thai tea set, a Parisian Notre Dame, a Floridan Mickey Mouse, a Santa Claus - these are the flavors we added to it.

One of the challenges while setting this up was - my very naughty 2 year old's presence! We kept him away from it only during setup and dismantling...the rest of the time, we tried to include him in the festivities. For him, that meant playing with the dolls. So he was told that he could take off only one thing at a time but he had to be very careful. He listened some of the time, but overall, the 9 days passed without serious mishaps.

Next year, we intend to dedicate a spot that will be solely his - where he can set up a zoo or farm or whatever he wants.

Last Navrathri, Aaja saw pictures of our modest kolu and was pleased to see America-vil kolu (a kolu in America). What amused him more was that there were maamis here too who came for vethalai paakku. I wish he could have seen this year's too. And all the ones that the future holds for us.

Maybe he will.