AS WOMEN in Rajasthan insist on being treated by only another woman, Jagaran is making an effort to recruit women as gunis.

One much sought after woman herbalist is 42-year-old Laxmi Bai of Gamana Sagar village in Udaipur district. She is the mother of six, and the wife of a marginal farmer owning just one hectare. To supplement its produce, he works for daily wages for six months each year.

Laxmi's recalls when she was 8, her mother suffered a earache. Her father, a herbalist, asked Laxmi to collect the leaves of a particular plant growing beside a nearby stream, but she made a mistake and brought the wrong leaves. Their juice was squeezed into her mother's ears, and her mother got instant relief. The plant also helped later to cure toothaches and eczema.

After her marriage, Laxmi made a living brewing liquor. Then, one day she cured a neighbour of a earache and soon patients started seeking her help.

How do you cope with patients, agricultural work and household chores?
I know it's tough and sometimes irritating when patients knock at my door even at midnight. But I am happy to be of some use to the community. Sometimes patients come straight to our fields, but I stop my work and treat them. I get tremendous support from my husband and my daughters who take care of household chores if I am busy.

How many patients do you treat every day? Do they come from far?
About 10 to 16 per day and more than 400 per month. They come from as far as Ajmer, Chittorgarh and Banswara. Once a politician named Murji from Salumber, a small town, came with a rash on his body. I cured him in four days and he wanted to open a clinic for me in Salumber, but I had to turn down his offer because I could not leave my village and my patients here.

How do you deal with patients who offer you money or gifts?
I don't accept anything from my patients. When they insist, I ask them to buy grain and feed it to pigeons or to give the money to the poor.

Has deforestation affected your herb collection?
Not much, because the herb I use is a common, wild plant that grows everywhere. But I am cultivating a herbs nursery so as to gain more time to treat patients.