The Tamarind trees at Solitude Farm have grown on their own. And this could be said of the innumerous Tamarind trees present in nearly every part of Tamil Nadu – they could be considered weeds, and yet, their fruit is used extensively in our cooking.
What is of special interest though, particularly in connection to the dread that the diabetes pandemic generates in the psyches of the people of this region, is the value of Tamarind leaves – consuming them has the effect of reversing the progress of diabetes.
Traditionally in Tamil Nadu, as also in Andhra Pradesh and perhaps elsewhere too, we dry the leaves and grind it into a delicious powder! Why can this not be made use of, through suitable and intelligent policy, on a larger scale? Think of the Midday meal scheme – and the millions of children that could benefit from simply including this hugely abundant resource of Tamarind leaves weekly or even fortnightly in the menu!
There presents itself the possibility of an astounding result – the near eradication of this painful pandemic within the span of one generation, through an act that appears even effortless in comparison, for example, to developing Artificial Intelligence for use in healthcare.
The sheer simplicity of the suggestion runs the risk of it being undervalued – making use of real and existing intelligence to recognize that a naturally occurring abundance could be used to create a significantly positive long term impact – allowing society to strive towards higher ideals, considering that basic physical, and thereby also mental health to some extent has been secured.
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