During the peak summer of July, I went into the Amchi neighbourhood – Hurling village (Sector -13), Spiti Valley, with my jute bag, wearing spectacles to shield my eyes from the bright sun, which was blazing at an altitude of around 3,300 meters. I felt that today’s temperature was nearly twice as high. In my rush, I left my phone at my abode. Amchi ji (local health practitioner) was already aware of my visit for an ethnobotanical survey.
I reached at entrance where surrounding was unusually quiet. I looked around, wondering whether the Amchi ji might be somewhere in his herbal garden. A young boy at a nearby house noticed me and informed me that Amchi ji was working with his family in the orchard at kanda (transition area near forests). I am not particularly good at remembering phone numbers, but I am good at faces and directions. Fortunately, I was carrying my field notebook, in which I had recorded the details of farmers surveyed during my survey visits. The boy approached me and lent his phone for a moment by passing it over the terrace wall. There I dialled Amchi’s number and informed about my arrival. I asked whether I could climb up to see him at the site, but he explained that the steep, stone-formed terraces, built for apple cultivation, would be difficult to climb. So, he asked me to wait in the yard and sit under the shade of an apple tree. I agreed and walked towards the courtyard. Halfway there, I suddenly realised I had forgotten to thank the boy who had helped me make the call. I turned back to thank him, but he had already left with his phone. There I settled into a chair placed beneath the broad, leafy canopy of a large apple tree.
Later
on, Amchi ji showed up with his regular bag and a pinkish hat on his head after
eight or ten minutes of waiting. I enquired about his family, whom I knew to be
an exceptionally hard-working woman. His affectionate description of her was
accompanied by a light-hearted complaint that she drank tea far too frequently
throughout the day.
Then
Amchi ji offered me juice. From my jute bag, I took out the borrowed Tibetan
medicinal plant book. Returning this book after a long interval was another
objective of my visit. Although the text was written in ‘Bhoti’ script,
I could only recognise the plant illustrations, which were useful for my
taxonomic identification.
Later, I mentioned that I wanted to see Aconitum roots, a rare species I had been particularly eager to locate since I first heard about it. Scientific literature frequently mentions its occurrence in Spiti Valley, but the valley encompasses diverse landscapes, aspects and altitudinal zones. Merely reporting its presence in Spiti is not sufficient; the precise locality and habitat need to be documented to make such information scientifically meaningful.
Aconitum sp. (F- Ranunculaceae)
PC- Rajat Dhiman
Thereafter,
we proceeded to the Amchi’s prayer room, where I observed a great collection of
raw medicinal herbs that showed a rigorous effort. The materials were stored
rather haphazardly in the room, with several items kept in carry bags and sacks
secured with knotted strings. Among the materials, we examined Aconitum roots,
including both apparently pure and adulterated samples. The Amchi explained
that the pure material had been collected by his own group with monks, whereas
the mixed material had been purchased. This distinction was important from the
perspective of medicinal plant authentication, raw-drug quality and the
reliability of traditional herbal formulations.
Aconitum roots
He
also showed me a naturally occurring mineral known locally as “Leh mineral". He
explained that he had purchased it at a high price because he had not been
aware of its natural availability in the region. He placed a few pieces in my
hand so that I could assess their weight and texture. The material felt
unusually light, somewhat resembling perlite rather than the expected density
of an ordinary mineral sample. I collected three small clumps for closer observation but hesitated to ask whether I could retain them as research
samples for further identification. My scientific curiosity was strong, yet I
did not want to appear overly eager to collect that material. Eventually, I
returned the pieces to their original packet without asking to keep them.
Though my intuitive voice keeps asking behind- Can I keep them? Can I keep them?......
We
then discussed other bitter medicinal plants, or tikta plants. I noticed two
trays, each containing approximately 25 herbs, accompanied by small white paper
labels bearing their names. I asked him about the ingredients used in the
mixtures and expressed an interest in examining the collected herbs intended
for traditional medicinal formulation. However, he appeared reluctant to let me
handle each ingredient individually, perhaps because of concerns about
contamination or the disturbance of the materials. I respected his hesitation
and agreed to record the information as he explained it.
The
Amchi ji, then brought out a very old booklet whose pages yellowed with age,
containing descriptions of herbal formulations and their medicinal uses. The
information was written entirely in Bhoti. He began explaining the contents and
asked me to write them down in my diary as he dictated. I carefully recorded
the names and details, including Akarkasoma, among the formulations or
ingredients discussed. This exercise provided an opportunity to document a part
of the traditional medicinal knowledge preserved in his personal records.
This
was more than the visit, where I got a chance to see therapeutic plant materials
actually collected to prepare herbal formulations in the Spiti Valley. It gave an
insight into the day-to-day operations of Spiti Valley's traditional healthcare
system, where knowledge of plant identification, collecting, storage, and
formulation is passed down orally, via experience, and through handwritten
records. Additionally, it reaffirmed how crucial it is to accurately preserve
traditional formulae, authenticate raw medicinal components, and identify
specific collecting locations, while acknowledging the confidence needed to
access local Amchis' knowledge.
