Hyderabad: Denizens turn to 'kada' to chase Covid away

Hyderabad: It has been more than two-and-a-half months (April 14) when Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised citizens to consume 'kada' frequently to boost their immunity and denizens of Hyderabad appear to have literally adopting to his advice now, with the number of cases touching close to four figures per day in Telangana and the government pondering over imposing lockdown in the city once again.

Some of Unani practitioners and even those who were tested positive for virus have shared their experiences and placed in the public sphere. They held that the results were 'quite satisfactory' prompting people to make beelines to 'dawasaz' shops, which are known for selling traditional medicines. "When I visited the dawasaz shop, there were over a dozen people queuing up to buy dried up Senna leaves which after boiling with water become kada (decoction) and consumed," said Farhana Begum, who started giving it to her family members and also suggested to her friends about its benefits.

These dried-up leaves caught the attention, which otherwise were generally known for improving digestive disorders and help relieve constipation. The herb comes from various flowering plant species of Cassia, grown in Middle East and South Asia. Depending on the demand, the price tag which was Rs 20 per 100 grams during normal days is now touching Rs 60 or more per same quantity in different parts of the City in recent days.

"We bought half a kg of it, as the herb is slowly turning short of stock," said Abdul Jabbar, an Old City resident.

Meanwhile, a video of Padmashri awardee Dr M A Waheed revealing his experiences with some patients affected by COVID-19 who got relief, is doing rounds with the name 'Tips to avoid covid-19 in Hindi/Urdu'. Amongst three kinds of remedies, he suggested (Sana Mukki) Senna leaves along with Banafsha (Viola Odorata) in the form of decoction, twice a day.

While another remedy is also liquid based, the other is for those having breathing problems and to improve oxygen levels amongst patients who are undergoing respiratory track infection owing to virus by inhaling using 'pressure cooker'. "These are well-documented and I am sharing the experiences after these remedies gave positive results," he said.

Another well-known doctor who was tested positive while his hospital was turned into a Level-1 treatment Center of Covid-19 also began using different formulas on himself and found 'very much satisfactory'. "I am using this formula for the last two weeks with suitable other Unani drugs(Majoon-e-falasafa, Tiryaq-e-arba,habb-e-jawahir & dawa-ul-misk, mothadil jawahar wali), Sibr 2 parts, Murmaki 2 parts, Zafran 1 part in a 250mg tablet form. Inhalation with Tirya e Azam, 3 times a day," says his Facebook post, first communication following getting affected with COVID.