Business Standard / New Delhi Jan 05, 2010, 00:53 IST
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh gave evidence of his considerable talent while addressing a press conference on biodiversity. In response to a question on how his ministry was planning to take up the issue of patents of biological materials, he replied, “Aapko kabhi jaundice hua hai? Jab mujhe hua tha tab mujhe kisi ne mooli khane ko kaha tha jisse mera jaundice 4-5 hafton mein chala gaya. Aise hi jab mujhe chicken pox hua, meri mother-in-law ne karipatte ke leaves mere face par ek mahine lagayi thein” (have you ever had jaundice? When I did, I was asked to have radish and this cured me in 4-5 weeks; when I had chicken pox, my mother-in-law rubbed curry leaves on my face for a month). He added conspiratorially, “I won’t give more examples otherwise these things will be commercialised. There is immense oral knowledge in our country. We only need to transform it into written knowledge.”
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