Mosquito-V - The Herbal Way. Review on Tortoise Mosquito Coil

Write here sitting in Mumbai, I typed out many reviews that talked of products or rather our weapon against mosquitoes, and yet I heard of several cases of cerebral malaria or falciparum recorded near Colaba, a hep locality in South Mumbai. Irony is that it is just 30 min from my place. Darn it, why don't people rebel against these pesky creatures and read my reviews on Mouthshut.com.

It is saddening to know that it is we humans who are responsible for their breeding. People here are least civilized. We have people spit on the road or walls, eat pan and spit more - ''paint the town red'' as I call it, eat Bhelpuri's and just throw the waste paper on the ground or road below. I myself, nearly barked at a college kid at Churchgate station, who sported a mobile phone and spoke English in US accent wit the babes in his group. He threw a paper ball on the tracks. There was a dustbin right there behind him near a stall! On any other occasion, one could have spotted him despising the poor and saying ''Yuck! How disgusting these people are!'' in an effeminate way. If educated public behave like this, ignoring the signboards, lectures, presentation, media that advertise the need to maintain cleanliness, what can one expect from the illiterate lot?

So you have flies and mosquitoes - live with them! I wonder if God has designed these pests to maintain ecology by reducing human population. But then I felt the need to add some more to the series - ''War against mosquitoes''.

Lets Mouthshut.com also be famous for promoting social awareness.

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PART E: THE HERBAL WAY

The world is going herbal. People are developing strong feeling against the modern chemical drugs and associated side effects and are inclining more to the ancient solutions - Herbs and Ayurveda. So we have Babool toothpaste and even Colgate launching its herbal toothpaste. Check the ''beauty'' world. All products strongly advocate ''natural'' and ''herbal'', as a result Herbs are now the ''IN'' things.

Now Tortoise Mosquito coils, who had probably introduced the concept of coils in India, is a very famous brand, a household entity. I won't be exaggerating if I tell you that everyone in Maharashtra (probably India), is aware of the tortoise coil, locally known as ''Kachwa Chaap Agarbatti''. The comic printed ads about people in distress because of mosquitoes and someone advising ''Use Tortoise'', are quite popular, like the Amul ads.

So Bombay Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., manufacturers of Tortoise coils, wouldn't be so far behind in the race. It has recently taken the Herbal path too, by introducing the Tortoise Activ

«« THE PACKING »»

The pack is not as green as it used to be. There is lot of orange color to it. The tortoise cartoon is slightly smaller in size. The top portion is not just plain green, it has pictures of green leaves and the words ''TORTOISE ACTIV'' between the leaves. The pack contains 10 coils and is priced very low at Rs. 14.50 (inclusive of tax) as against Mortein that is priced at Rs. 19.

The coils come in plastic bag within and a coil stand. The coils come in 5 groups of two. The coils are difficult to separate though.

«« THE COILS »»

Unlike most other coils that are green in color, including the old Tortoise coils itself, the new Herbal Tortoise Active is reddish brown in color like Mortein coils. The coils smell different - you get that herbal whiff. After burning, the coils surprisingly are not suffocating but the smell is also not as pleasant. The coil burns a bit fast, spreading the smoke fairly in the room creating a wider mosquito free zone.

«« CHEMICALS USED »»

Most other coils use Allethrin or d-trans Allethrin. Allethrin is a pyrethroid, a synthetic compound that has stomach and respiratory action and paralyzes insects before killing them. But then the fact remains that Allethrin is also toxic to humans and should be kept out of reach of children.

The tortoise has managed to be one up by making the coils that are not poisonous at all, making it safe to handle - even by kids. The product is purely herbal and the herbs used aren't poisonous either. It makes use of Tulsi, Vekhand, Zendu flower and other such herbs). It has dubbed it as BIO-HS. So this new herbal version does not cause symptoms of dangerous poisoning such as nervousness, anxiety, tremors, accelerated respiration etc., while at the same time drives mosquitoes away. It has leaves extract or oils that display mosquito repellent properties (eucalyptus or neem for instance). In fact Tortoise claims that some of these oils are also used in Ayurvedic Vapor Inhalation Therapy.

«« USAGE »»

The coil is spiral. The center has a notch and has can be fixed to a sharp pointed edge of coil stand. This stand has a groove where broken coils can be attached. We burn the coil and then place it in the dark corners of the room. The windows are kept closed initially to allow the smoke to collect. We open it later and can actually see the mosquitoes flee desperately.

«« OVERALL »»

If you have to use a coil, I highly recommend you to try the new safer Herbal Tortoise coils.