THREE CUPS OF TEA

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time



Let me be honest. I must confess: when I picked up this book, I wanted to read it to improve on my knowledge of topography and geography of Karakoram region and the people living there. I also wanted to know a little more about K2, the savage mountain, which has no other name. Though K2 is the second highest mountain (8611 meters or 28251 ft) after Mount Everest, I knew very little about it. Having lived in Nepal for some time, and with my fascination for Himalayas, I managed to read a little about Mt Everest, and like most people, I equated Himalayas with Mt Everest only. It is also a fact that much less is written about K2 since it is believed to be the world’s most treacherous and dangerous mountain, and technically most difficult climb. Far less number of mountaineers have attempted and succeeded on K2. I have personally heard Everesters who admit that Mt Everest is more about physical fitness and less about technicals (but you must still have sound technical abilities of rock climbing, snow and glacier walking, negotiating crevasses, rescuing etc), but K2 remains formidable as it tests a climber in all aspects of summit climbing. As of now, only 305 people have successfully ascended K2, compared with about 2600 who have summitted more popular Mt Everest. Mortality rates continue to remain high on K2.
I also wanted to read the book since it was about Pakistan and its relationship with Himalayas. Other than K2, I never associated Pakistan with Himalayas. But I was made aware of my ignorance in the opening pages of the book when I found out that in a comparatively small region of Karakoram, more than 60 peaks reside which are more than 20,000 ft high.

In 1993, a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson, drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. He was rescued by a Balti. Moved by the inhabitants’ kindness he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty five schools – especially for girls – in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit. Three Cups of Tea is co-authored by Greg Mortenson and David Relin and published by Penguin.



When I started reading the book, first I was captivated by the beauty and desolateness of formidable and merciless Karakoram region. However, soon I was flowing with Greg in his mission to build his first school in Baltistan and was periodically filled with thoughts of doubts, apprehension, fear and hope. It was a Herculean effort to raise money for his school in US even before the days of 9/11. He had begun his mission in 1993. He had no idea of how to raise money. People were generally not interested in the Islamic world; Tibet had remained a favourite cause for charity. He begins by writing letters. He had returned from his K2 mission not just as a failure, but completely broke. He sends 580 letters of plea for his cause. After an agonizing wait and some lobbying, he finally gets a single cheque, but it was worth twelve thousand dollars, enough to build one school in Baltistan. Even then, it was not easy; many people in the village thought their village had different priorities. Many suspected his motives. However, with time, persuasion, and patience he manages to win their trust and support. Like one village chief told him “Here, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family and for our family we are prepared to do anything…even die.”
Illiterate high-altitude porters of the region put down their packs (and giving up decent salary and benefits from expeditions) to make paltry wages wit him so their children can have education they were forced to do without. A taxi driver who chanced to pick Greg up at the Islamabad airport sold his cab and became his fiercely dedicated ‘fixer’. Former Taliban fighters renounced violence and the oppression of women after meeting Greg and went to work with him peacefully building schools for girls. Though he managed to build 55 schools in 10 years in the most formidable region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, he did not have a smooth ride. He was termed a CIA agent, was threatened to wind up his mission; clergy of a village issued a fatwa against him; and he was even kidnapped. Like a true missionary, he did not give up and persisted with his goal. His logic in those regions as well as in his own country, US, was simple: though the US was fighting terrorism, it was doing nothing to rehabilitate families or empower them. Very soon he had discovered in his mission that education of girls was key to health, peace and prosperity. Aren’t we in India familiar with the slogan ‘you teach a woman, you teach a family.’



Some reviews of the book:

“As the US confronts Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, Greg Mortenson is quietly waging his own campaign against Islamic fundamentalists, who often recruit members through religious schools called madrassas. Mortenson’s approach hinges on a simple idea: that by building secular schools and helping to promote education - particularly for – in the world’s most volatile war zone, support the Taliban and other extremist sects eventually will dry up.” (Kevin Fedarko, Parade cover story, April 6, 2003)
“In an age when every politician and talking head has little but rhetoric to offer for the seemingly irreconcilable mess of warfare and cultural conflicts wash in the Middle East and Islamic territories in Central Asia, Mortenson’s book is a stunningly simple story of how to make peace in one of the most beautiful places in the world: build schools for girls… his mission is a relentlessly positive one, and his ability to reveal the beauty and refuse to accept the brutal reality around him is an inspiring, heroic and at times even crazy pursuit.” The Bloomsbury Review

Three Cups of Tea is a beautifully written book about one man’s crusade against poverty, illiteracy and terrorism. Though sometimes it gets repetitive, but is still unputdownable. I shall recommend it to everyone who feels his/her life has been affected by terrorism

MUMBAI BOMBED AGAIN...

The terror strike in Mumbai has not only been painful but shameful too. With immediate loss of life of innocent civilians, the forces too lost their valiant officers. Watching it live on the television was tragic; one felt so vulnerable and impotent at the same time. Ten people had held the whole country to ransom where life had gone still. The Taj, the pride of India, Oberai Trident, the place to enjoy and relax, Nariman House, the place of peace and safe abode had all become war zones and fields of destruction. While the whole drama was unfolding on TV channels right in the drawing room, one did not think of past or future. But after it is all over for rest of the country, the pain and grief continue for the bereaved families. Drama unfolding in the newspapers now is getting more shameful everyday. Within 24 hours, all agencies have put together the route, mode of conveyance used, terrorists’ training etc for our consumption. All this did not come from the captured survivor; intelligence, though in piecemeal, was available to most of the intelligence agencies much before the terror strike. Blame game has started within our most prestigious defense and security organizations. Heads of the ministers are rolling. But the politicians at ministerial levels could be so callous is unimaginable, Kerala CM takes the cake and would not even send his dog to a martyr’s home; Maharashtra CM finds his visit to war raven Taj as opportunity to promote the career of his son and takes a well known producer-director on a guided tour who may soon launch his next production on Mumbai’s terror strike with the son in a leading role; deputy CM wonders why people are so agitated over a small incident when the death toll is only 200. Union cabinet minister lost his seat so early in the game that he did not get a chance to display his latest wardrobe or shoe collection.
We have heard the phrase ‘Mumbai’s spirit’ so often it sounds like a cliché. Mumbaikar’s never-say-die spirit has given power that be the right to let it be assaulted repeatedly with floods, bomb blasts and terror strikes.
How long will we in India continue to suffer this terror and humiliation?

CHANDRAYAAN 1 - India on Moon

The MIP crashed at a place called the Shackleton crater in the south polar region of the Moon and put the Tricolour on the Moon. The crater also is possible site for future human missions to the moon.

The Shackleton crater has an undulating terrain with hills and valleys. Since the valleys are in the moon’s permanently shadowed regions, it could harbour water and ice.

What was extraordinary about the historic event of Chandrayaan -1’s probe landing on the moon on Friday night was that the spacecraft was built in India, it was put into orbit by the Indian rocket, PSLV-C11, and the launch took place from Indian soil.



When I was in school in late sixties, one of the favourite topics for English essay writing and science project was ‘visit to the Moon’. I remember making visits with my friends to USIS (United States Information Service, earlier version of American Centre) and the Russian Centre to collect printed material on these countries’ space programmes. We were so enamoured with those glossy magazines and what a thrill we got in collecting them for free.
Then on July 20, 1969, US won the race when it succeeded first in landing a manned flight onto the surface of moon. The newspapers next morning (Television had made its token appearance in Delhi only, was in its very early days of infancy, and we did not have it) were full of pictures and story of man’s first steps on the Moon. Neil Armstrong had become a hero and a role model immediately. The same day I happen to go to my father’s business premises where I also met our octogenarian Munimji. Munimji was a very respectable member of our family who not only handled the accounts of our business firm but also the affairs our joint family as well. He was part of all family decisions, and was consulted for all matrimonial alliances of my father’s generations. When my father reached his marriageable age, my grandmother had sent Munimji first to my Nanaji’s house to approve the family and the prospective bride. At the shop that day in July, 1969, there was more number of newspapers. All were discussing the moon-landing, about the site, possibilities of living on moon etc. Our Munimji listened to all this for a while, and then thundered – ‘it is all bakwaas (bulls..t); no one has landed on the moon; it is all amrikan propaganda’. No body opposed him! Little did he realize that he would later find support for his disbelief not from Russians who were beaten in their race to Moon, but from the Americans only.
On February 15, 2001 the FOX television network aired a program titled Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon? This program showed alleged evidence that NASA faked the moon landings. This hoax theory has been around for several years, but this is the first time it has been presented to such a wide audience. This programme is freely available on CD and I watched it during my Antarctica days. What it says basically is that NASA was in such a hurry to beat Russians in their landing on Moon that it hatched a major conspiracy to fool its own people as well as of the world (If you can not make it, fake it). There are now websites on this topic and NASA as well as many independent experts and scientists have strongly and scientifically refuted the claims of advocates of hoax theory.



The lunar probe of Chandrayaan 1 has landed on the south polar region of Moon. The area where it landed is Shackleton crater. South Pole and Shackleton are so intimately linked with Antarctica! But Shackleton, being a great hero of early Antarctic exploration, has been honoured at Moon too.



After joining many prestigious clubs (nuclear club, satellite club, Antarctica club, Arctic club), we are over the moon now. Many people ask what India is achieving in establishing bases at such formidable and inhospitable places like Antarctica and Arctic. And now why Moon? There are many scientific as well as geo-political answers to such doubts. I shall not go into that. But it is a great feeling that we are over the Moon!

The Ship Pirates

Having spent two months on the ship this year, and passing through some risky area of the Indian Ocean while sailing from the Antarctic Ocean via Cape Town and Indian Ocean, news such as ship piracy in such area of course attracts my attention. While on the ship, I was quite surprised to learn that ship piracy is a regular risk with the ships and its crew especially cruising in the Gulf of Aden. During my daily visits to the Radio Room at M.V. Emerald Sea for making/receiving phone calls from home, or collecting/delivering emails, I would see printer regularly printing alerts from the maritime bureau. If you ever thought that the ship pirates in current times existed only in the Hollywood, then improve on your information and general knowledge. They are every where in different oceans with high speed boats and modern weaponry. Fortunately, we were safe in Antarctic Ocean; so far no incident of ship piracy has ever been reported from this continent. In fact the menace of the ship piracy is so rampant that many maritime bureaus have dedicated and specialized crime services to collect and disseminate information to alert the ships about the risky areas. There are many famous books and movies on sea pirates, the latest being Pirates of Carribean. There are now dedicated websites on this subject.



It is a big relief now to the families of all the sailors on board the ship, MT Stolt Valor. It was hijacked by pirates 38 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden more than two months ago while it was on its way from the Suez to Mumbai. The Hong Kong-registered ship was carrying a cargo of oil and chemicals. Apart from 18 Indians, the crew members also included two Filipinos, a Bangladeshi and a Russian.
At any given point there are one lakh Indian sailors on foreign seas; India is the largest suppliers of sailors and yet there is no system in place to ensure their safety. There have been so many such incidents in the Gulf of Aden, this was the 54th incident this year.
Surprisinghly, despite such high numbers, India is neither a part of the UN Coalition Force that patrols the area nor is there any set protocol for dealing with such incidents.
Last week only, the Indian Navy was able to prevent the hijacking of m.v. Jag Arnav in the Gulf of Aden because it was an Indian ship. The Stolt Valor was, interestingly, Japanese vessel registered in Hong Kong. Owning and registering of ships is also a complicated process. M.V. Emerald Sea, for example, a Greek ship, was registered in Liberia to save the taxes. Liberia and Panama remain very attractive cities for registration of such huge vessels as they do it at very cheap rates.



Some of alerts received on M.V. Emerald Sea
Warning Warning Warning: piracy prone areas
Somalia: heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. Ships not making scheduled calls at Somali ports are advised to keep at least 200 nm from the coast.
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: 19 incidents have been reported in 18 months. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
Chittagong, Bangladesh: 62 incidents have reported in 2 years. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
Other risky areas:
South and Central America and the Caribbean waters
Brazil – Santos
Peru – Callao
West Africa – Lagos

Some actual and attempted incidents:

December, 2007, Dar Es Salaam: Pirates boarded a container ship drifting. They broke padlocks, removed container lashings bars and stole ship stores and cargo.
November, 2007, Belawan, Indonesia: duty quarter master onboard a product tanker at anchor noticed two robbers hiding under windlass. Crew alerted, robbers jumped overboard and escaped in a boat waiting below.
November, 2007, Arabian Sea: A reefer underway detected a small boat on radar at a range of 4 nm approaching from the starboard side; alarm raised, lights switched on. The boat moved away.
November, 2007: In the Gulf, a suspicious craft approached a tanker. Master sounded general alarm, increased speed, crew mustered and fire hoses standby. The speed boat closed at 0.1 nm, and when it noticed crew alertness, aborted approach and moved away.
November, 2007, Somalia: A car carrier noticed an unlit boat at 3 nm off the port bow with a speed of 19 nm. The boat reduced speed to match the speed of the vessel. Another unlit boat observed at 2 nm. Master raised alarm; crew mustered and switched on deck lights. Both boats moved away.
November, 2007, Vietnam: Robbers armed with knives boarded general cargo ship at berth. Port security informed. Ship stores stolen.
November, 2007, Malacca straits: an unidentified small watercraft approached a chemical tanker underway. Alarmed raised, the craft came within 150 meters and aborted the attempted.
November, 2007, Mozambique: Robbers boarded a container sip at berth and stole ship store amid tight anti piracy watches. The ship had shore security personnel deployed by the port security. In addition there were armed security guards on the shore side.
November, 2007, Hoogly river, India: Six robbers armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker at anchor, via the poop deck. Crew raised alarm and activated anti-piracy measures. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped, with ship’s stores in their waiting boat. No injuries to crew. Reported to harbor pilots but no action taken.
November, 2007, Mogadishu, Somalia: A general cargo ship was boarded and hijacked by seven armed pirates while at anchor after discharging cargo at Mogadishu. Pirates took control of the bridge, engine room and steering room. There was a fight between the crew and the pirates. Six crew members were injured. An U.S. warship rendered assistance in rescuing the crew and ship.
September, 2007, Haiti: Robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored general cargo ship unnoticed. Ship’s general alarm sounded and crew mustered, robbers jumped overboard and escaped with ship’s stores. Attempt to contact the local authorities were futile.
September, 2007, bonny river anchorage, Nigeria: five robbers in two motor boats armed with guns and knives boarded an anchored chemical tanker from the bow using ropes and hooks. Duty crew spotted the robbers and raised the alarm. The robbers broke the locks on the forward store and stole ship’s stores and escaped. Bonny signal station was called many times, but did not respond.

Chandigarh....the city beautiful

Ever since I left Chandigarh way back in 1982, I have looked for opportunities to visit Chandigarh again and again. There are so many pleasant memories and experiences associated with the city. It has not yet disappointed me in my so many visits in last 25 years. Though these visits are now never for a longer period, not more than 2 nights usually, but the visits and meeting with old buddies always refreshes me. Chandigarh has changed in so many ways, and yet it has remained the same in its character. It has expanded in all directions. Like NCT region of Delhi which now encompasses Noida, Gurgaon, and may be Sonepat also, Chandigarh’s unofficial boundaries now engulf Mohali, Panchkula, and may be Raipur Rani. It is not uncommon to find letters for Panchkula also mentioning Chandigarh in the address. The traffic has multiplied manifold; the ubiquitous cycle, the most common mode of transportation earlier, has rapidly been replaced by motorcycles and small cars. Traffic jams, unheard earlier, do occur now on some roads. I used to own a cycle then; and would enjoy using it for various errands, and also on many occasions with Chitra on carrier at the back. Later I also put a small seat in front and would take Ishu for fun ride in the campus. It was a bit of unusual since very few docs in PGI used cycles, and perhaps none to use it as a family transport.
My hobby for bird watching really took off from the woods adjacent to the hostel. There were many resident and visiting birds there and gradually I learnt to recognize them. I still remember my joy when for the first time I made a spot recognition of golden oriole and grey hornbill.
We got lot of visitors from Delhi who would visit us for various reasons: medical consultations in the hospital, just to visit and spend some time with us, or on their way to Kasauli or Shimla. We were always on lookout which hostle-room’s occupants were away on home vacation so that we could accommodate our own guests. Besides usual tourist attractions, we would always entertain them at the first floor cafeteria which they found so spotlessly clean. They found it amusing to see the caloric value of each item of food served there.
Some of the friends we made there are our closest friends now and we value their friendship. People of Chandigarh were warm, simple, and yet fun loving; unlike Delhi. I also tried my hands to learn to speak Punjabi; speaking same language is a key tool to communication and it proved very useful to establish rapport with patients. My skills to speak Punjabi were OK if some linguistic expert did not sit on judgment. However, what I learnt most at Chandigarh and which I continue to cherish is to take pride in my profession.



So when there was another opportunity to visit Chandigarh for a meeting, I jumped at it. And the organizers of the meeting booked my stay at the UT guest house in sector 6. It has just been renovated and its sprawling lobbies would put ordinary 5-star hotels to shame. The best part of the guest house is its close proximity to the lake. I went there for my morning walk. I was visiting it after so many years, may be after two decades, but was very happy to see it as clean and unpolluted. On the opposite side, one could still see the clear land and greenery with no encroachment. When we were there, visits to lake, rock garden, rose garden, 17 sector market were quite frequent. What I also liked very much there was the cactus garden in the Punjab University. It had at that time some amazing variety of cacti. I have not been to all these places now in so many years now, but would like visit cactus garden once again.
The roads and various sectors continue to be clean and uncluttered. It is such a contrast from Delhi where you could not pass a stretch of one km without the road being dug up, or huge dump of garbage. Unauthorized floors or extensions are not visible, at least on my short visits. However, with third generation having now grown up, the Chandigarhians will be facing tremendous pressure for the need to have an extra floor above their houses.

The Scent of Fruits and Vegetables

You read any health column; invariably, you will be told umpteen number of times the value of fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet to ward off modern life illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or heart attack. You can also ward off pernicious illnesses like prostrate cancer, colon cancers, or even Alzheimer’s disease. We all take the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in India almost for granted. I now know from my personal experience how much one can miss even the mere sight of fresh fruits and vegetables. I have now known what the sight or scent of fresh fruits or vegetables can do to boost up your morale and improve your mood. We were returning from Larsemann Hills (69° 25´ South, 76° 15´ East), Antarctica on M.V. Emerald Sea and by the time we reached Cape Town, we were already on board for nearly six weeks. We had exhausted all our supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables and were getting slowly sick of frozen stuff. Only potatoes and onions were unfrozen, but they had also started sprouting inspite of being stored in the cold room of ship. As luck would have it, our ship anchored on ‘fruits exporting dock’ of Cape Town harbour. South Africa is a major fruits exporting nation, and crates after crates were lying all around ready to be loaded on to vessels going all over the globe. During our short trip to the city, I was thrilled to see the quantity, variety, and looks of so many different kinds of fruits. Of course, our mess committee did not disappoint us, and made sufficient purchases of fruits to last till we reached Goa two weeks later. When we set sail again after one night’s halt at Cape Town, I refused to have any daad-chawal-roti for next three days and thrived very well on fruits and salad.
Who can forget the scintillating and award winning performance of Al Pecino in ‘Scent of a Woman’, but scent of fresh fruits and onions can excite people so much if they have not set their eyes on fresh fruits and vegetables for six months, you can very well gauze by reading Ashit’s account. He is the current wintering member of our 27th IAE team.

The scent of the fresh vegetables and fruits
Guest Column by Ashit Swain





I never imagined that the scent of the fresh vegetables and the fruits will be so sweet aromatically. I could never have thought that this much of urge for the fresh things would be there with a large group of people who stay for a common cause in the harsh wintering period of Antarctica.
From my first day at Antarctica, I have been exposed to so many wonderful things. At one side, where some of the natural beauty is unparallel, the other side focuses on the different attitudes of the human beings. Towards the end of October, skua and penguins have reached Maitri and generated intense interest among the members. Even though these birds of Southern Hemisphere generated intense excitement in most of the members here, all did not participate in showing their eagerness to watch them. However, with their arrival, summer season has begun. Very soon lakes will melt on which I have traveled a lot with the vehicle and walked length and breadth for various scientific and other interests. The accumulated snow will melt away and the landscape will change entirely.
With the start of the summer season, the flight service between Cape Town and Novo airbase in Antarctica has started and we are once again reconnected to the mainland. The de-induction has started. With the inaugural flight coming on 31st October, we were told, there was a huge parcel for Maitri. The news spread like fire to all the members that some important things for Maitri station have reached airport. Very soon, there was a guessing game began on the possibilities of things which are coming. Some members were of the opinion that the most crucial parts of the vehicles must be reaching; others were of the opinion that this must be the fresh vegetables and fruits package; or it could be some vital and delicate scientific equipment. The suspense was increasing every hour. It was taken into the custody at the Novo airbase and reached Maitri late afternoon, and no time was lost in opening the packets. To our great delight, there were apples, oranges, lemons, onions, carrots, leafy vegetables, broccolis, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, green chilies etc. All of us were excited and extremely happy to see all this and wanted to touch it and smell all vegetables and fruits. We were setting our eyes on them after a long gap of more than nine months. The sight of fruits excited us, but it was not comparable to the sighting of the onions, which were long missing in the kitchen.
For fair distribution, apple, orange, onion, carrot and lemon was equally divided among all the members. I would not have seen my share so closely, if I were there in India. But with the fresh stock in my hand I saw it more closely than ever. It seems I had already forgotten the taste of lemon, apple, orange etc. I smelled the lemon. It was so sweet. When somebody is away from it for a long time, only then the importance of the very common things can be best felt. The green, orange, yellow, light pink and reddish orange colors of the fruits and vegetables could attract all of us together that starting from the youngest to the oldest, all are very happy to get, see and feel it. Even penguins and skua had not generated that much interest or excitement!
Very soon, the plans were made to prepare the salad and omelets, with the fresh stock of the new things. It was like a festival; possibly more numbers of persons were seen in the kitchen area to prepare the dishes of their choice, keeping Narayan Singh aside. I wish subsequent incoming flights will bring more fresh stocks. To appreciate fresh fruits and vegetable with all the five senses, you have to be Antarctica and spend the polar nights here. Not a big deal!

HALDI - THE WONDER INDIAN SPICE

Turmeric or haldi has been used in my family for many purposes besides culinary. I am sure it must be true for most of the homes in India. I was introduced to turmeric powder (haldi) during my own childhood when my mother and grandmother prevailed upon us to take it for frequent bouts of cough during winter season. We took it in powder form with hot milk just before going to bed. We were also advised to take it when having general aches and pains all over the body after a particularly grueling day in the sports field. The powder of haldi was also sprinkled over open wounds to speed up healing. Now we know that it works as an antiseptic and prevents infection of the open wound. I started taking haldi regularly only a few years ago to overcome my frequent bouts of sinusitis. I think it has benefited me somewhat. It has reduced my frequent use of antibiotics. However, it has not set right my proneness for easy and recurrent rhinitis and sinusitis. Recently I discovered that Bikash, a very close friend and famous neurosurgeon in the US, also takes haldi on regular basis. Bikash and Dottie were visiting us in England, and after dinner Chitra asked them if they would like to have a drink. She suggested if they wanted to flatter me, they should take ‘haldi-milk’. Surprise, surprise; Bikash had been using haldi regularly for some time in the same way as I took, though he took it in cold milk.
So, when recently I was asked about the scientific validity of haldi powder, I rushed to where else, but Prof Google and Tutor Wikipedia, and collected the following information.

Medicinal properties of Haldi (Turmeric, Curcumin) as gleaned from the net:




In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is thought to have many medicinal properties and many in India use it as a readily available antiseptic for cuts, burns and bruises. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine say it has fluoride which is thought to be essential for teeth. It is also used as an antibacterial agent. It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which allegedly helps with stomach problems and other ailments. It is popular as tea in Okinawa, Japan. It is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer's disease, cancer and liver disorders.
It is only in recent years that Western scientists have increasingly recognized the medicinal properties of turmeric. According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope," research activity into curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is exploding. Two hundred and fifty-six curcumin papers were published in the past year according to a search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Supplement sales have increased 35% since 2004, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health has four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's, and colorectal cancer.
A 2004 UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered mice suggests that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, might inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and also breaks up existing plaques. "Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in a variety of ailments as part of Indian traditional medicine," Gregory Cole, Professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said. Another 2004 study conducted at Yale University involved oral administration of curcumin to mice to study its benefit in cystic fibrosis. Anti-tumoral effects against melanoma cells have been demonstrated. A recent study involving mice has shown that turmeric slows the spread of breast cancer into lungs and other body parts. Turmeric also enhances the effect of anti-cancer drugs in reducing metastasis of breast cancer.
Curcumin is thought to be a powerful pain-relieving agent. In the November 2006 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a study was published that showed the effectiveness of turmeric in the reduction of joint inflammation, and recommended clinical trials as a possible treatment for the alleviation of arthritis symptoms. It is thought to work as a natural inhibitor of the cox-2 enzyme, and has been shown effective in animal models for neuropathic pain secondary to diabetes, among others. Presenting their findings at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco in June 2008, researchers discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls.
Welcome to Haldi Club!