Betel paan - Bringing you health, wealth and prosperity

Gopakumar AV

Though looked at askance, this unique custom of chewing betel leaves (piper betel) with chunnam (slaked lime) and areca nut is perhaps the most common and is considered to be one of the essentials for health, wealth and prosperity.
No occasion is considered to be auspicious unless betel paan is freely distributed to the people assembled. If a Hindu pays a visit to his friends or relatives, a plate containing the essential ingredients for betel chewing will be the first thing handed to him. Surely one should be inclined to examine and find out the reason or reasons that might have made this custom such a popular one.

The betel leaves and the other ingredients used in chewing it have carminative effect. The Indian physicians of by gone ages had discovered this and perhaps prescribed it for the overfed. These people require some agreeable stuff to help them in digesting their food. To avoid creating in the minds of these the idea of several doses of medicines, chewing of betel nuts and leaves must have been introduced perhaps as a luxury. Moreover, it is in human nature to make use of everything found in nature and there were these harmless but useful articles handy. So the people took to this custom, which slowly spread among the masses.

On festive occasions people are willingly or unwillingly accustomed to overloading their stomachs. They, therefore, require something to aid digestion. So these materials were procured to sharpen the appetite first and to aid digestion after partaking of the meal.

Another reason for the origin of this custom may also be given. These materials serve the purpose not only of all-round tonics but they are also germicides on a small scale. The whole alimentary system affords excellent breeding places for microbes and worms commencing from mouth to anus. By eating vegetables of various kinds men may breed germs in the mouth, and worms, large and small, in the stomach and the intestines. Repeated betel chewing destroys these to some extent and by helping to keep the alimentary system clean, affords no facilities for these to grow and flourish. The mouth is one of the outlets for the gases formed in the alimentary system by the decomposing of the undigested food materials inside.

Betel chewing not only checks the fermentation and formation of gases, but also helps to conceal, if not to remove completely, the bad smell in the mouth formed of sticking to the teeth and the gums.

There is also a popular belief that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, abides in certain materials and betel leaf is one of them. Men and Women by chewing these favorite leaves of hers are supposed to please her and receive her blessings.

Avoiding the two extremes, viz. chewing too much betel and not chewing any, it appears that the use of betel pan early in the morning checks the formation of phlegm, cleans and clears the bowels. The use of it before mealtime sharpens the appetite. Its use after meals helps digestion. If people use it with discretion moderately to help them in one or other of the above uses, though not in all, they may find it conferring on them health which is both wealth and prosperity in one