THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: She never fails to stir up an excitement at the meets of traditional medical practitioners. So it was at the KSTA Hall at Thycaud, when traditional healers were looking forward to her talk. Annamma Devasya, aka ‘Chediyamma’, who was sitting right beside them, chuckled: ‘’They don’t know who I am.’’ Once they realised who she was, this 78-year- old grandma of traditional medicine was a much sought-after figure - to clear doubts on the medicinal plants, ways of using them and even how to go about it. And unlike the usual guardians of such precious knowledge, Annamma had no qualms about passing on the information to anyone. A native of Aanikkad, Annamma had a renowned healer in her family, Illikkal Isahak. As a little girl, she would hide in the bushes and watch her great-uncle and aunt pluck the herbs for each disease. ‘’Actually, these are all very simple herbs that you find everywhere and if patients see them, they would find it difficult to believe that this would really cure them. Faith is a very important factor in the treatment of a disease and this is probably why ‘vaidyans’ never showed the herbs to the patients,’’ explained Chediyamma. But what got her seriously into traditional medicine was the death of her youngest son Benny. ‘’This shook me up and I wanted to spread the message that nature has given us a cure for almost every disease. And as Gandhiji advocated, living in line with nature, eating a lot of leafy vegetables and fruits will prevent a lot of diseases,’’ said Chediyamma, who now has patients from all over the state, neighbouring states and even abroad. The constant calls on her mobile stand proof. Her most effective medicines are for piles, migraine, cough and cold and skin diseases. While skin diseases may take a little while to heal, Chediyamma claimed that with her medicines, most piles patients get relief in about seven days. Her medicines, sometimes as simple as ghee with rock salt, are known to be effective for a number of poisonous stings and bites as well. But whatever be the disease, Chediyamma has a magic pill she calls ‘sarvarogasamharini’, that is given along with the specific medicine. It has all the traditional medicines like dried ginger, pepper, nutmeg, long pepper, turmeric, ‘ayamodakam’, ‘vayambu’, ‘maayakku’, ‘kadukurohini’ mixed with garlic, Centella and so on. If the patient has asthma, she gives this pill along with seven pepper pods and seven ‘thulasi’ leaves; if it is stomach ulcer, she gives ‘nagavettila’ and chopped shallots with the pills; and if it is migraine, she changes the herb to ‘mukkutti’, which, she says, is one of the most potent of all medicinal plants.Apart from ‘mukkutti’, the most used plant in her medical cocktails are the ones called by various names such as ‘Ayyappana’, ‘Shivamooli’, ‘Vishakandan’ and even ‘Mrithasanjeevani.’ ‘’I want the people of this country to take a look back to the olden times, when vegetables were grown at homes with no toxic pesticides, when every disease had a cure in the kitchen garden,’’ said Chediyamma.A mother of six children and many grandchildren, Chediyamma says she has a long way to go - she wants to set up an in-patient facility where she can treat her patients who need round-the-clock care and a small garden attached to it, where she can grow all the medicinal plants. ‘’I hope some nice soul somewhere or the government will help me set this up,’’ she said, with a typical toothless grandma smile.
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