As he smeared the latex of the hairy spurge (Euphorbia hirta) known as 'Amman paccharasi' in Tamil and 'Ara tanah' in the local Malay language, over the hardened swelling at the inside of his left calf, a revelation shot up from the bottomless pit of Prahlad’s subconscious mind.
Just like the potent Keezhanelli (Phyllanthus niruri) plant shooting up in the flower plant pots and his jungle garden, it occurred to Prahlad that mother nature was responding in kind to him and his family.
For the love and endurance he showed towards the proliferation of wild plants in his garden, passed off as weeds by the modern colonised Asian community, it appeared that Boomadevi was paying dividends.
Unlike the medical practitioners’ exorbitant demands for their mostly errant, overrated and tortuous treatments, here was our true mother offering her invaluable cures for simple love currency.
At his backyard garden the rain delivered by the Northeast monsoon had resuscitated the henna plant now bent over with luxuriant emerald green, essential oils-loaded leaves.
The Amman paccharasi, Keezhanelli and henna he believed were Boomadevi’s prescriptions for his wife Kaathyaayani who had over the past few years become preoccupied battling the health calamities of her post 50s life era.
The Amman paccharasi and Keezhanelli were cure for Kaathyaayani’s digestive tract ailments, hormonal imbalance caused build-up of free radicals, joint pain and fatty liver threat.
The latter for luxuriant hair and as natural dye to conceal greying hair.
The phenomenon of global warming, plastic and toxin pollution on land and in rivers and seas, in Prahlad's reasoning was not much of a danger for Boomadevi, mot
her earth.
