The Knowledge Rich Poor

(A Poem By Dr. Balaram Sahu)

The son of our village landlord came

To stay, see and conquer all

He was moving with his followers

Those always talk tall?

While going through the farm

A swarm of wasps bit his face

His face got much swollen

And he reeled under pain.

Some one shouted for drugs

Some one for some ice

Where will these be found?

In an inaccessible field of rice

The pain was rising high

Became unbearable too

The flatters were only shouting

Nothing could they do?

A laborer was working

A little away there,

He offered his help

To cure and take his care

The laborer plucked the stem of a plant

"Colocacia" is the name

It is a common vegetable

And its taste makes its fame.

He massaged few drops of the stem juice

Over the wasp bitten wound,

The pain subsided quickly

And the redness could not be found.

The laborer was very poor

But rich in traditional knowledge

If you need some of these

Tell him with some courage.

(In rural Orissa ,People use the stem juice of "arbi" or "saru" (Colocacia) to relieve pain from ant ,wasp,bee biting. Application of some drops of juice from the stem of  leaves of arbi plants work wonder in minutes.Arbi is a popular country side vegetable grown under soil.Shree Ramesh Chandra Parida of Kendrapada in Orissa has used this in many occasions and got good result)