Turmeric is another important spice that was and is used as remedy for many ailments.

If we had a sore throat, we would add salt and a pinch of turmeric to warm water

and gargle 4 or 5 times a day. My father had told me that turmeric was antiseptic

and it helps stop bleeding.

 True Story: My father was a manager in a coffee plantation. He told us that when he was

young,  once he accidentally slashed his ankle with a very sharp machete trying to cut the

extra branches of the coffee plant. (The coffee plant should ideally grow almost like

an umbrella. To enable this, all the shoots that spring on the trunk below the top

part are constantly cut off by the workers. However, what ever shoots were missed by the

workers, were cut by my father when he went on his supervisory rounds.) Since the nearest

doctor was many miles away and the only conveyance was the bullock cart, the people

around him put turmeric, raised and bandaged the foot and the ankle and carried him to the doctor.

It stopped the bleeding and his leg was saved. He had a ball put in his ankle and the doctor later

said that it was the turmeric that stopped it from infection, controlled the bleeding and helped in the

 healing process. Ever since I heard that story, turmeric has been my friend and I have used it

for every cut that my children or I have had.