The Hero Herb

Vidya Balachander unravels the medicinal properties of one of India’s most beloved plant.

- ​​​​​​​Vidya Balachander

FOR AS LONG AS my grandparents were alive, they loved recalling a story about my early childhood. Every rendition of the story involved neem oil. In their retelling of it, I was a chubby toddler beset with a chronic skin condition. One morning, I threw a tantrum—just because I knew my strong will was no match for their indulgent resistance—asking to be taken on a drive. Of course, my grandfather capitulated, but on one condition: I would not be slathered in neem oil, which left its acrid reek on the seats.

Since that early dalliance with the margosa tree and its odiferous byproducts, it has been a constant presence in my life. I have eaten its bracingly bitter leaves crushed, with a knob of jaggery; bathed in soothing water imbued with its leaves, and even applied the leaves directly to my skin, when I had not yet found relief from the intense itch of my chronic eczema.