Urai Mathirai

            by Sheela Rani Chunkath

The English educated elite in India are the ones most often have a slavish mentality. For them institutions like UNICEF, WHO, NASA are the ultimate authorities. I remember how as young IAS officers we were trained in the sugar and salt technique for treating diarrhoea. One pinch of salt and three pinches of sugar. We were told that this could be made at home. And then slowly the oral rehydration salts packaged by multinationals made its way into the government system and private medical shops. If the government had chosen to spend the same crores of rupees on our own diarrhoea treatment technique we would have far more effective systems in place. We have thayirchundi churanam and a host of other medicines in Siddha which can treat diarrhoea. Similarly dadhimashtaka churanam is a very effective Ayurvedic drug.

It is however in newborn care that I find that we have become completely enslaved. While breast feeding is important and needs to be encouraged the practise of giving ghee or honey when the mother’s milk has not been fully established in the first couple of days has been completely discouraged. Oiling the infant is a complete 'no–no'. In the South we have a fantastic tradition called 'urai Mathirai' which is used when the baby is about two months old. Western educated paediatricians have put the fear of god in new parents and they abuse the mother and older women who suggest that the traditional practice of 'urai mathirai' will prevent colic, colds, coughs and fever and keep the baby healthy and happy. The urai mathirai used to be made at home by older women at who would happen to have the ingredients and use them in the traditional way.

The traditional urai mathirai consisted of Vasa or vasambu (Tamil), (Acorus calamus), Rasna or chithiratthai (Tamil) (Alpinia galangal), Haritaki or Kadukkai (Tamil) (Terminalia chebula) Mayaphal or Maasikai (Tamil) (Quercus infectoria) Jatiphal or jathikkai (Tamil) (Myristica fragrans) Sunthi or Sukku (Tamil) (Zingiber officinalis).

The grandmother would keep these or a few more herbs depending on the tradition of the family. After the baby has had its bath or feed the grandmother would lay out the traditional stone (a kind of grinding stone on which chandanam would be normally rubbed) and all her wares. She would get a little breast milk from the mother, put it on the stone and rub each one of the herbs a certain numbers of times according to the age of the baby. The resulting mixture would be given to the baby in a traditional paladai or sanku.

The baby would have no colic, no cold, no cough, no fever and would go through its infant years without being treated with harmful antibiotics. Think of how enslaved we are, that we were persuaded normally to replace our natural and very effective traditional systems with toxic substances but also abuse our elders who tell you to stick to safer traditional options. So young mothers out there please rediscover the traditional systems you may have in your family before they are completely lost. For those who need a quick readymade urai mathirai, SKM pharmaceuticals in Tamil Nadu are doing a yeoman service for young mothers by painstakingly making the urai mathirai which will keep infants healthy and mothers happy.


--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/