CHENNAI: Ashok was studying in a secondary school and was enthusiastic in his studies and energetic in sports until last year! Lately, his mother observed that he was becoming lazy and also could not appear for his quarterly examination because of persistent illness. He seemed to have lost his concentration in everything. Soon, Ashok became susceptible to all sorts of health complaints including contagious diseases.
His parents consulted number of doctors and everyone prescribed medicines that proved to be of temporary relief. By now, Ashok had consumed a number of tablets and gulp many syrups for his illnesses but nothing seemed to working out. His friends started not calling him ‘Shok’ (grief) instead of ‘Ashok’ especially his close classmate Karthik. Ashok’s parents were really worried about their depressed son and prayed to god for his health.
Ashok was bedridden for a week as he had developed severe fever. He could not take his routine food and he was gradually becoming very lean and thin. His mother was sitting nearby with much of mental agony on her face and tears rolling down her cheeks. A little later, Ashok’s father entered the room carrying a bag in his hands and a smile on his face.
He put his hand inside the bag and took out a bunch of stem pieces of a plant. He handed over a few of pieces to her and requested her to soak them in water over night after cutting them into small pieces of two inches. He wrapped the remaining stem pieces in an old newspaper, sprinkled water on it and told her to use it the next day. While Ashok’s mother was unsure about its effectiveness, his father started planting a seedling in the backyard.
Next day morning, Ashok’s father asked his wife to bring a glass in which the stem pieces were soaked. He crushed the stem pieces and filtered the mixture in a cup and asked Ashok to drink it. Ashok drank the bitter stem juice with a teaspoonful of honey. Ashok’s father looked confident and said, “You will be cured very soon, and be active as well because you had ‘Amruth!’.” Amruth is botanically known as Tinospora cordifolia (Willd) Miers and known as Giloy/Guduchi in Hindi; Amrutha balli in kannada; Chitramrutu in Malayalam; Tippa teega in Telugu. The following day, Ashok managed to get out of his bed and he looked better too. Wonders never cease!
After two months, it was surprising for everybody to see Ashok active and attending classes again, without fail and he was also participating in sports and games with the same enthusiasm he had earlier. His parents were beyond happy.
Ashok’s mother was taking care of the plant that her husband had planted. It had grown healthy and was sprawling on the compound wall. While she was watering the plant, she saw Ashok entering the house. “Mummy,” said Ashok. “My classmate Karthik has not come to school for a week and he is suffering from chikungunya. I am going to present something to Karthik”, he said showing a bag full of stem pieces of Amruth plant.