Plants as medicine

In your book, Our Wondrous World (Chapter 4), Reena and Amit are getting ready for the celebrations. Their grandfather, Dada ji, takes out a bottle. It holds a mixture made with neem oil. If you rub it on your hands and feet, mosquitoes will not bite you.

Reena has made a first-aid box of her own. In it she keeps some medicines, and a mosquito repellent cream bought from the market.

Many plants give us medicines, and the elders in our families know many of them. For example, the leaves of Indian basil, which we call tulsi, are used as medicine. Neem, too, is a plant we use for healthcare.