Few days ago, the Ministry of Environment & Forests, banned mining, quarrying, major construction, and setting up of certain types of industries in and around about 37% of Western Ghats, the mountain ranges that are identified as the hottest ecological hot spots by UNESCO. This is good news for people especially of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, whose health and wellbeing depend largely on the bio-diversity of Western Ghats.

Not just Western Ghats, in general, the territories of south Indian States like Tamil Nadu are rich in biodiversity. Western Ghats accounts for just about 5% of India’s land, but it is home for over 5,000 species (or about 30%) of high plants in the country.

In urban areas, people intensively plant trees in small areas. This phenomenon is came to be known as “square foot gardening”. The idea is to grow more in less space. It can be said that when God tried His hands in square foot gardening, he chose Tamil Nadu, because, terrestrial biodiversity, the degree of genetic, species and ecosystem variations, tends to be the highest in this region, even among the south Indian States. One of the indicators of Tamil Nadu’s rich herbal treasure is the traditional knowledge of people about herbs, and their contribution to India’s traditional medicinal systems including Siddha and Ayurveda.

One of the indicators of Tamil’s knowledge of herbs and Tamil Nadu’s herbal treasure is the fact that Tamil language has more words for herbs than any other language in India or the world. (Among over 1,22,000 vernacular names for herbs listed by this online database, Hindi, Kannada and Telugu put together account for about 42,000 herbs. Sanskrit itself has only about 20,000 words. However, Tamil alone accounts for over 41,700 vernacular words.) 

If you happen to be in Tamil Nadu, all you have to do is take a walk in a barren land and pay close attention to the ground, you could find a rich variety of plant species even within small areas. Our own factory and office is located in the foothills of Western Ghats, at Rajapalayam, surrounded by large swathes of barren, uncultivated lands. 

As shown in the photograph, one square foot of land has about eight different plant species including plants with rich medicinal value, including Kolunji, Perkannuppullu, Pal perukki, and Kurunthotti. 

It is our duty to conserve our biodiversity and see to it that it is protected from narrow economic interests. 

Winter is also the season of infectious diseases. But if there's Trikatu Churna (thirikadugu churnam, in Tamil) at home, help is at hand.
An Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine in powder form, Trikatu is looked upon as “winter mother”, for it takes care of one’s health like how a mother does. 

Made of three easily available ingredients: namely, sukku (Zingiber Officinale), milagu (Piper Nigrum), and thippili (Piper Longum), It protects us from the attacks of “rainy day” diseases such as fever, cough, and cold, among others. Trikatu Churna also epitomizes the philosophy and treatment approach of Indian traditional medicines. 

The three ingredients relate to three “doshas”: vata, pitta, and kapha that Ayurveda and Siddha are based on. The concept of disease, according to our traditional medicines, is that the imbalance of universal elements of air, fire, and water in one’s body is the root cause of all diseases. Among other things, environment of the outer world, can directly influence the composition of the three elements in our body.

Trikatu churna acts on the body to balance these three elements. Sukku acts on air, while milagu and thippili on fire and water, respectively. One spoonful of the churna a day - either in the morning (preferably, in empty stomach) or in the evening before going to sleep - is all you have to do to enjoy the healing touch of the winter mother. It can be taken by people of all age group (excepting infants). We can mix the powder with honey, to sweeten the mix. 

Usually, these three elements are mixed in equal portions in branded Trikatu Churna, available off-the-shelf in all traditional medicine stores in India. It is also affordable. However, the churna can be easily made by ourselves. In fact, we can make it in a customized way. For instance, if we know the air aspect of vata is in excess in our body, we can always increase the amount of the corresponding ingredient, in this case, sukku, in the mix, so that the vata gets balanced. 

Buy Trikatu Churna, not necessarily from Aravind Herbal :-), or prepare it yourself. Regular intake of it just for a week, will be enough for you to know the difference. Drop a line, if you need more help. Let us all be blessed with disease free winter.  

American author and relationship counsellor, John Gray wrote a book that went on to become one of the highest ranked non-fiction work published in the Nineties. The author says that men and women are different in many ways. Of course, there are views against this argument. 

However, it is almost impossible to deny the fact that the approaches of modern medicine (Allopathy) and traditional medicine (like Siddha and Ayurveda) are totally different. 

For, modern medicine is largely disease-oriented - you go to a doctor or take a pill only after your health breaks down. In traditional medicine, your food itself is your medicine. You take the prescribed food to prevent yourself from falling ill. The former appears in the picture only when there is a health breakdown, but the latter prevents breakdowns from happening. 

In modern medicine, the whole infrastructure - including drug companies, hospitals, pharmacies - are oriented to fix your health, but in the traditional medicine, the health infrastructure is there for you to remain fit. 

Of course, we cannot avoid modern medicine altogether. Let us not get into for and against arguments on different health systems - it is enough if we understand that fixing a breakdown is time consuming, requires a lot of resources, and drains your wealth - even the US cannot afford its own healthcare system. In contrast, maintenance - or prevention - is always better than break down. There are no economic losses and emotional sufferings. 

But there is a price for everything - to stay health, you have to invest your time for healthy lifestyle practices, and you also have to be highly disciplined.
 
Consider Siddha or Ayurveda as a collection of best food and lifestyle practices. They prescribe vegetarian and satvic food. They suggest you to have food only when you are really hungry. They ask you to have your supper of digestive food before sunset. The list goes on. As for lifestyle is concerned, they prescribe meditation and yoga asanas. 

We may not need special skills to follow these practices - but if we really want to avoid breakdowns and the sufferings that come with them, we have to invest time and effort for maintenance. Breakdown or maintenance, the choice is ours.

At Aravindh Health Centre, we have a Temple of Herbs. The reigning deities are herbs - to be precise, nine types of herbs corresponding to nine planets. People who seek protection from the negative effects of any particular planetary positions, can offer their deep prayers to the corresponding herbal Gods in this temple. The mantras for all the planets are displayed. Chanting the specific mantras 1008 times will go a long way in helping oneself find cure for their physical, mental sufferings or financial and other material problems, caused by planetary positions.

Traditional astrology also has no doubt that the planetary positions do affect our life - our thoughts, moods, and actions. It also found that herbs have the power to act as conduits to bestow the blessings of planets to people who are ruled by the positions of specific planets. 

One of the basic premises of Indian Traditional Healthcare systems of Ayurveda and Siddha is the belief that "what is there in the Universe is what is there in the body". Andathil ulladhe pindathilum ulladhu, is a famous Siddha quote in Tamil. The human body is a miniature replica of our solar system with each body part and system symbolically representing a sign and planet.

This way, the temple also reminds us that people, plants and planets are deeply connected, and we should live in harmony with the nature.