The Village Pharmacy
by NIOS (Play / Dialogue)
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Written as a dialogue in a family, this lesson celebrates the neem tree as 'the village pharmacy'. Neema, a Class VIII student, comes home late because her school has planted 94 neem saplings in memory of the 94 children who died in a tragic school fire at Kumbakonam, and she brings one sapling home to plant. When her father, a paediatrician, mentions that neem has great medicinal value, Neema's grandfather, who has lived all his life in the village, explains its many uses. He credits his good health at eighty to neem twigs, neem paste and neem juice. He tells how various parts of the neem, bark, seeds and leaves, were used as medicine, how Gandhiji used neem leaf chutney, and how the neem improves the soil, repels insects, works as a pesticide, gives good manure and termite-resistant timber, and even cools the air by 10°C. The neem can fight many diseases and is a panacea for many ailments. Delighted, Neema realises how blessed she is to be named after this 'wonder tree'.
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Homage through neem saplings
Neema, a Class VIII student, returns home late in the evening with a sapling in her hand. She explains that her school paid a tearful homage to the ninety-four children who died in the tragic school fire at Kumbakonam by planting 94 neem saplings in the school campus, seeing in them the images of the children whose lives were 'nipped in the bud'. Neema has brought one sapling home to plant in the garden, which her mother calls a fitting gesture.
The grandfather explains the 'village pharmacy'
Neema's father, a paediatrician, tells her that neem has great medicinal value, and her grandmother says the grandfather is the right person to explain it, for the villagers call the neem their 'village pharmacy'. The grandfather, hale and hearty at eighty, credits his strong teeth to neem twigs, his clear skin to neem paste, and his good health to neem juice, which purifies the blood. He recalls how his own father prepared medicines from the neem's bark, seeds and leaves, which is what first drew Neema's father to medicine, and how Gandhiji had neem leaf chutney in his daily diet at the Sabarmati ashram.
Many uses of the wonder tree
The grandfather lists the neem's many virtues: it increases the soil's fertility and is eco-friendly; it is a natural insect repellent, resistant to more than two hundred types of insects, and works as a pesticide, protecting crops, so it is agro-friendly. Its fallen leaves make good manure, and its termite-resistant wood is ideal timber. In summer the temperature under a neem tree is 10°C lower than the surroundings. These fast-growing, evergreen, perennial trees reach 30 feet in five years and can live 200–300 years. Traditionally the neem has fought inflammation, hypertension, ulcers, diabetes, malaria, boils, rashes and wounds, it is a panacea for many ailments, and today even toothpaste, soap and shampoo are made from it. Neema happily realises how blessed she is to be named after this 'wonder tree'.