HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, March 7: Covid-19 entered our lives like a poison with no antidote to counter its effects. Fear and gloom had taken over the once healthy and single tracked minds of the people, and with that came the need to avert the crisis with whatever means was readily available to us. It was time to turn to nature’s never ending source of magical solutions.
In a bid to boost the immunity of the forest staff and guards during the pandemic when the vaccine was yet to be produced, Jatin Sarma’s noble gesture to explore the potential of ancient Indian herb, Giloy, by extracting its powder and providing it in packets to the front line forest staffs have won accolades.
Scientifically called Tinospora Cordifolia, it is in India known as Amrita – meaning roots of immortality; Giloy is now making headlines all across the national media, pertinently as it is packed with an array of benefits. It has been claimed that Giloy can 100 percent fight off Covid-19 infection. Popular for its immunity boosting properties, Giloy helps in actively fighting various pathogens and has been a part of traditional Ayurvedic medicine for a very long time. This herb has the ability to boost one’s immunity and prevent the onset of common infections, due to the presence of antioxidants.
Giloy can be consumed either in powder form or can be boiled and consumed in the form of soup. “You can also prepare Giloy juice and have it daily on an empty stomach in the morning. Being rich in antioxidants, this herb can boost your immunity and prevent the onset of common infections,” Sarma said.
The Giloy powder is extracted in a forest camp in Tezpur. More than 12,000 frontline forest staff consumed Giloy when corona was at its peak.
However, the forest department is yet to start the commercialisation of the product.
“We do not want to commercially produce Giloy powder. We want to create consciousness among the people on the herb,” he added.
With no vaccine in sight, Assam, like the rest of the world, had to turn the pages of history and ancient knowledge and seek for a more traditional source of medication from its natural herbal collection.
In Assam it is known as ‘Saguni Lota’ which literally means a climber with 100 different benefits, and also as ‘Amar Lota’ meaning the immortal climber.
Upon talking to chief conservator of forests (CCF) Jatin Sarma, IFS who is also the member secretary of State Medicinal Plant Board (SMPB), Assam; he reiterated that in India two more similar species of this family are found in the wild – Tinospora Sinensis and Tinospora Malaccensis. “But they are not found in all agro-climatic zones nor have any medicinal value and hence are not even cultivated,” he added.
He further maintained, “I have personally been involved in popularisation of this plant since 2005-06. My point is that the video shown in various media outlets of the plant species is wrong. Many people are wrongly using the visual data of the fruiting specimen of Tinospora Crispa whereas it should have been that of Tinospora Cordifolia. The same pictures were also presented during the national seminar held in New Delhi in January, 2019 when I had categorically pointed out the differences to the concerned authorities.”
Sarma urged the authorities and concerned media personnel to use the correct visual representation of the plant so that the people may reap the maximum benefit of this wonder herb. With the world being threatened by pandemics, such wonder plants need to be properly researched and catalogued for the benefit of greater mankind.
