Oil that is petroleum has made life modern and made several countries rich. The phrase 'He has struck oil' is an equivalent to 'he is lucky' in the USA. India is not an oil surplus nation. My theme is the neglected potentials. By oil I mean groundnut oil, coconut oil - oil used in cooking. Beyond cooking these oils have a medicinal value. Not that we do not know of it, but that we never pay them the attention they deserve. Kerala has made OIL a supreme source of cure of diseases. Maybe there exists an oil-cure for a great many diseases, perhaps all diseases.
Kerala's experience with oil reveals the infinite hidden resource behind every object. Perhaps that is one expression of Sarvam Brahman - the infinite Brahman. A VIP broke his thigh bone when he was past 70. The latest medical attention was at his disposal. He availed of them all. They were of no avail. He resorted to all types of bone setting. The final conclusion the doctors came to was, "We can minimise every type of discomfort. But he can no longer walk." The VIP was from Kerala. As a last resort he thought of the oil treatment he knew. The confidence of those 'quacks' who accepted the treatment was annoying. "He can certainly walk," they claimed with glee. Of course, the oil treatment revealed its power in his broken bones once more and he walked as before. The bones that the doctors declared would not set displayed a 'refractory' behaviour. Once more he was on his feet.
A lady was suffering from pain in her shoulders. Prolonged treatment was of no use. The doctor who was treating her for long spoke apologetically, "You see, I am an M.B.B.S. I am shy of telling my experience. Ask the lady to smear some gingili oil everyday before her bath. It will help." In a couple of months her pain receded and disappeared. Oil is not my subject, but I use these examples to illustrate the GREAT potentials in life, particularly the Indian way of life. The Green Revolution has quadrupled grain production. Famine that was defying government efforts for two decades suddenly vanished forever. C. Subramaniam who achieved it did not achieve it as a great plan. He was a farmer. He was always efficient. Here too he acted efficiently and left the Food Ministry in 1 1/2 years. He was at that time unaware of the great work he was doing. That is the hidden potential in India. It exists in all walks of life. They can be built upon to suit our modern requirements. I plead for that AWARENESS. We are a potentially rich nation.