Lemons

 Lemons
The lemon flower is very beautiful but nobody seems to take any notice of it because of its thorns. 
But come to roses people are fascinated by the flower in spite of the many thorns. 
To me lemon is one of the most neglected trees of our soil. 
It loves the tropical sunny weather and grows very slowly and we have many neglected varieties in our country. 
Unfortunately, we only love oranges that are also the imported varieties.  
It is said we love anything foreign including bird's flu.  
 
History
The versatility of lemon has been recognized since its discovery in India more than 4,000 years ago. Egyptians painted lemons on tomb walls. 
In the late 1700s, the British navy made lemons part of sailors' rations to combat scurvy. 
In the 1850s, a scurvy epidemic during California's Gold Rush created a demand for lemons and soon it became a household plant in the state. 
Today, California's arid, coastal climate makes it one of the world's leading lemon producers.
Several countries pay homage to the fruit with lemon festivals, as does Menton, France, a small town on the French Riviera where lemons grow year round. During the Fete du Citron, a two-week celebration held every February, townspeople create murals, sculptures, and parade floats from lemons.
The lemon tree is one of the oldest cultivated fruit and today lemon trees grow all over the world and like pepper and spices all good things originate in the tropics.
The citrus smell of a lemon is refreshing and invigorating. 
For many people a lemon smell has come to symbolize cleanliness. Most major cleaners on the market today have a lemon or a citrus scented version for consumers to enjoy. 
But in this country the lemon is conveniently forgotten for artificial scents are abundant and imported for a princely sum.
Though the fruit has a sour taste the lemon is actually a mild buffer that can reduce hyperacidity in the stomach. 
Lemon juice and peels have an antiseptic effect and the leaves are used as a skin and hair treatment. Lemons are rich in vitamin C and strengthen natural healing power. 
By acting as an antioxidant lemon protects the cells from free radical damage.
Cleaning kitchen Utensils
Lemon juice is ideal to clean pots and pans. 
Copper utensils can benefit from a lemon juice cleaning.
Worktops
Worktop stains can be removed by allowing lemon juice to sit on the stain for a few minutes. Scrub the area with baking soda and watch the stains disappear. But don't leave the lemon juice sitting for too long it can easily overshoot the intended activity.
Drains
Hot water with a little lemon juice poured down a drain will also freshen the drain.
Bleaching
Lemon juice acts as a natural bleaching agent. 
Put lemon juice onto white linens and clothing and allow them to dry in the sun. 
Stains will be bleached away.
Add to Vinegar
Vinegar can be a great cleaning ingredient, but many people dislike the vinegar smell. Adding lemon juice to vinegar when cleaning can help neutralize the vinegar smell.
Common sense
Lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda are the commonest ingredients (naturally occurring cleansing products) in one's own home but often the most neglected in their use except in cooking and flavouring. The lack of common sense has made us to neglect them. Most importantly none of these products is poisonous (cooking ingredients) and lack of understanding of chemistry and biochemistry is the main reason. What our students learn in the class in science (chemistry to be precise) is open to question without common sense practicality.
Forgetting the Roots
Forgetting our roots and losing common sense is a manifestation of the modern age. 
This is true in my home too. Only when everybody was on holiday in India our pantry had a lemon treatment.
Glancing through the web pages, I have noticed the Westerners have missed an important link of this marvelous fruit has to the miracle drink, the alcohol. 
We Sri-Lankan use it as an antidote for the excess consumption of alcohol. 
The citrate salt of alcohol that is formed in the stomach retards the absorption of alcohol. So our housewives are adept at using this lemon treatment when looking after their inebriated living souls. 
This is something probably the BBC missed in its recent broadcast.
24th of February 2006
Edited on the 26th of April

Lemon Treatment
I have not heard
Any lover saying to
To a lover
My lemon
But of course
Sweet heart

But when the sweetness
Takes a ride
And the bitterness
Take it ascends
I have heard loving souls
Calling each other
"You pumpkins"
Or Potatoes
Years later

But in general
To be successful
In life with endurance
The culinary skills
In the home front
Is not the special ingredient?

The lemon treatment
Is not the extraordinary ingredient?
For the inebriated
Soul mate
For
Bringing back
The reality
Both
The sweetness
The bitterness
And the life in general

26th of April 2006