By: HG Bhakta Raghava
With the temperatures soaring over 40 degrees Celsius, dehydration and sunstroke is a major risk for the people who are moving on the road, especially in the scorching noon sun. It gets so hot during the day that your head starts spinning and throat drying up. So in order to help people beat the heat, the devotees at OM Sri Surabhi Campaign National Office conducted a free buttermilk distribution camp.
Traditionally buttermilk is referred to as sattvic food, while Ayurveda practitioners believe that daily intake of buttermilk helps keep all kinds of summer ailments away. Fighting the most common digestive problem of acidity, buttermilk or chaach soothes the stomach after a spicy meal, improves digestion, boosts calcium intake, washes down fats, lowers cholesterol and reduces blood pressure. And most importantly it helps you stay hydrated.
“The buttermilk laced with curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt and asafoetida adds to its health benefits during summer,” says MayapurSashi Devi Dasi, also in-charge of preparing 500 litres of buttermilk. She adds another benefit of ease to it, “buttermilk is in fact very easy to make and requires the least effort.” All you have to do is use curd obtained from a desi cow. Traditionally, the curd is churned using a rope and a wooden stick. This is how mother Yashoda used to obtain butter. Once the butter is obtained, the rest of it can be used as buttermilk. To it then add the required amount of salt and other simple spices. And top it with freshly chopped coriander. It is best if you can store it in a clay pot as it provides cooling effect with The freshly prepared buttermilk is first offered to Lord Gopal, who is the protector of cows.
This free buttermilk distribution camp is being organised regularly over the past few weeks. In total 500 litres of buttermilk was distributed to over a thousand people. “I feel very refreshed and energised after having 3 glasses of buttermilk,” said one auto driver Ashok who had been tirelessly driving his auto all day long. So if you are ever in the Secunderabad area and need some buttermilk to cool down your body, please feel free to avail free buttermilk at OM Sri Surabhi Campaign National office, which is located on the police station road here in West Marredpally.