KASHMIRIS AND WORMWOOD OR THEITHVENA ( ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM )

                                                                                             

TEITHVENA  OR WORMWOOD (  Artemisia absinthium)

 “Ye kyaazi chhu hokhaan   ? Yi hai balaai chhu kheyvaan. Amiss  ma  chhe aam . Diss teithvena  pheikka.”

“ Why is he so thin and weak   even when he keeps  eating so much ? May be he has worms . Give him some wormwood   ”

 

Word Teithvena ( wormwood ) was  also used sarcastically in Kashmiri language  . 

 “Vuchhaan chhukh na me kotaah khaer koruss . Amiss zun log teithvena ”

“ See How much favours I passed on to him. But all this worked like a bitter wormwood  for him”

"ya ha chhu theithvena Hue tyoth.Maarun chhusaai ba. na sa khyema na ya"

"This is as bitter as wormwood.You want to kill me. I can't eat it."

In 1959,  stalwart Modern  Kashmiri poet Dina Nath  Nadim wrote a poem that had title  “ Naabad ta Teithvena “  or  “ sweet candy and bitter wormwood. "

Shakespeare used bitterness  of wormwood   symbolically in his play' Romeo  And Juliet' .

Kashmiris  were familiar with this herb plant .  It was a favourite and trusted  medicine used for de-worming since many centuries in the  Kashmir valley . I was told by many elders that   in olden days , wormwood plant leaves and green fruits were tied to stomach of children at night and that was sufficient to ensure de-worming. 

 Teithvena  grows in many villages in Kashmir as a  grass  /wild plant .  It rarely grows taller than 6  feet .  In summer season,  pale  yellow flowers appear which are followed by small oil producing glands huddled together .  A small fruit also appears on this plant  that produces seeds .I have seen this plant growing  alongside the slopes of Shankaracharya hill in the Srinagar city.

Hakeems  made extensive use of the leaves and seeds of this plant  essentially for de-worming . Vaids and homeopaths  also used it as a medicine. Measured quantity of wormwood or Teithvena was prescribed orally  due to its bitter taste and toxicity . Some Hakeems prescribed leaves of this herb to be  boiled in water and  drunk  for colon cleansing.

 Wormwood  oil was used in some  medicines  for its  antifungal , anti-inflammatory , and  antispasmodic properties . It also acts as a  cardiac stimulant and digestive tonic. It was also used in the  beer Industry and for making bitters . Wormwood seeds powder  has also been found useful for treatment of Malaria. The   leaves , seeds,flowers, fruits of this plant were used as medicine. 

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.