Gian Di PotliTraditional Healing Practices

By

Kheti Virasat Mission Jaitu, District- Faridkot

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THE HEALING HANDS OF WOMEN

At a time when we look towards market-based solutions for everything even if they mean unsustainable development ultimately, we in Kheti Virasat Mission decided to dip into the traditional wisdom of the Punjabi bebe to understand, document and disseminate traditional healing practices or home remedies that these women kept alive. The approach that these women hold, of food being the best medicine and of coming up with easy to use home remedies for various common ailments and for general health is something that is worth showcasing. This is especially so since the women of Punjab have been denied their rightful recognition for the tremendous nature-friendly knowledge that they used to possess and use in their everyday lives. Further, given the danger of such knowledge and wisdom lying unshared and unappreciated with the older women, this is our small contribution to the people of Punjab. We hope that this will bring about a new appreciation for bebe’s knowledge and wisdom and that people will also use these simple remedies which are part of the rich oral tradition of the region.

CONTENTS

UnconsciousnessVomitingJee Machlana/ Jee Kacha hona/Khatte Dakaar/ VomitingBlisters in the mouthCoughBlockage in the chest due to coughSprainMalariaChhaianMuhaanse/ PimplesHigh Blood PressureTyphoidDiabetesHead Reeling or DizzinessDryness in ThroatArthritisColdConstipationEar acheItching/ prickling in the ear Fever Loose motionPre-Natal and Post Natal care

a) In the Ninth month of pregnancyb) On the day of deliveryc) To the newly born child

Hichki

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Traditional healing practices

Unconsciousness:Take a medium sized onion. Slice it. Squeeze it. Put three drops into the ear.

Vomiting:Take about 10-11 tulsi leaves, boil leaves in a pan in one glass of water. Let it cool for some time. Drinking this water will help in stopping vomiting.

Jee Machlana/ Jee Kacha hona/Khatte Dakaar/ Vomiting: Taking a small amount of honey with tulsi leaves

Blisters in the mouth:Chewing some Tulsi and Chameli leaves will help.

Cough:1. Keeping a small piece of Mulathhi inside your mouth for some time will help slowing down on cough.2. Take some Tulsi leaves and five pieces of black pepper. Boiling them in water in which would be used for making tea afterwards will help.3. Take one teaspoon of Desi Ghee. Add a teaspoon of powdered sugar. Fry it properly. Eating it would provide relief from Cough.

Blockage in the chest due to coughTake some Eucalyptus leaves. Boil them in a litre of water. Ut a cloth on the vessel in which water is being boiled. Sit side by to take steam from it. It will clear the blockage in the chest.

Sprain:Take some mustard oil in a pan. Heat it. Put a small quantity of haldi and onion and heat the ingredients for sometime. When it is lukewarm, massage at the place of sprain for sometime. It will provide some relief.

Malaria:Take two medium sized lemons, a glass of water, two teaspoons full of Peeli Shakkar. Squueze the lemon juice into the glass of water, add shakkar and mix it with a big spoon till the time it becomes like a sharbat.

Chhaian:Take a medium sized lemon. Add a teaspoon of honey. Make it into a paste. Apply daily regularly on the affected areas of the face.

Muhaanse / Pimples

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Take a fourth part of a lemon juice. Add a pinch of turmeric and a pinch of salt to it. Heat it till it becomes lukewarm and apply on the affected areas. Wash the face with cold water. Using it once in a week would not let Muhaanse appear again and will relieve from the ones already present.

Take some Rasaunt. Grind it and apply it on the affected areas.

High Blood Pressure:Eating Watermelon in the season will keep you away from it.

Typhoid: Boil some tulsi leaves in the water which will be used for making tea afterwards will help.

Diabetes:Take some seeds of Jaamun fruit. Grind them to form powder. Take a spoon full of the powder every morning prior to eating anything. For the one suffering from higher levels of diabetes, should get one kilogram of powder *

Head Reeling or Dizziness: Aanwale ka Sharbat will help.

Dryness in Throat: Keeping a seed of dried Date fruit in your mouth for some time will help.

Arthritis: Heat up some Mustard oil, some Ajwain, put some Garlic and heat it until lukewarm. Let it cool. Massage the affected areas using the oil.

Cold:1. Prepare a cup of tea. Add some lemon juice to it and drink it.2. Take five teaspoons of coarsely grounded wheat flour. Boil it with a glass of water. Sieve it. Take some oil in a pan, add the sieved flour and fry it properly. Let it cool. Taking it will help in relieving from cold.3. Take some khaskhaas. Grind it in a Hamaam Dasta. Add a lit bit of water, some ghee and some sugar to it. Add the mixture to a glass of milk. Shake well. Drinking it will give a relief from cold.

Constipation: Add a spoon full of honey to a glass of water. Drinking it for? How many days?

Ear ache:1. Take a leave (yellow) of traditional Akk . Add two spoons of mustard oil and fry the leaf properly. Sieve it and put it in a jar. Put two drops in the ear.

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2. Take ten small Neem leaves, five turian of garlic, two teaspoons of Mustard oil. Grind all the things and add heat it till the mixture turns golden. Let it cool and add two drops of the mixture in the oil. Itching/ prickling in the ear: Take some Ratanjot. Add one tea spoon of Kabila add. Boil both the things. Let it cool and then drink it.

Fever:Crush/Grind a bee hive. Add a teaspoon of honey to it. Boil some tulsi leaves into some water and add to it. Drinking the mixture would help.

Loose motion:Take two teaspoons of Isabgol with a glass of buttermilk prepared from milk (not from curd). Taking it three times a day will certainly help.

Pre-Natal and Post Natal care:

a) In the Ninth month of pregnancy

1. Wheat flour noodles cooked in Jaggery. Add three tea spoons of ghee to it. Eat it regularly in the whole of ninth month.2. In the ninth month take a glass of milk (or to the amount of your choice), add one teaspoon of ghee (or as much you can digest) and drink it.

b) On the day of delivery:Take two teaspoons of ghee, two teaspoons of jaggery, and one teaspoons of ajwain. Put all the three in a pan. Fry them till the jaggery is completely dissolved in to it. Serve it to the mother of the child.

c) To the newly born child: Just after the mother has delivered the child, give him/her Gur di Gurhti. After that take a small piece of fresh cotton, wrap it into a batti and take a small quantity of goat milk. Soak the cotton batti into the milk and serve the child with this milk.

Hichki:Take some cowdung cakes. Fire up the cakes using a matchstick and some kerosene oil. Add a teaspoon of Turmeric powder to it. Sit side by and smell it for some time. The hichki will go.

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