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Song Of The Holy One* SADHU VASWANI Janmashtami! The greatest Day in Hindu history! The Day sacred as the Birthday of Sri Krishna! He came with ravishing beauty. He came with the matchless music of the Flute. The Purest of the pure, the Stainless, He came with a purity in His heart that saw the Divine in the human and made Him to many a milk-maid an Image of the Eternal. He came with eternal youth. He came with an ancient, unborn beauty which gave joy to all — to man and maid, to bird and beast, to oak and pine, to flower and star. In a crisis of our history He came with a rich outpouring of Love. Will Bharata advance to her appointed fulfilment? Then must India’s youths, in a true historic spirit, commune with the living Past. India was once a fount of inspiration to sages like Appolonius and Plotinus and Clements. Alberuni, the great Muslim traveller and scholar, *August 14 is sacred as the Janmashtami Day.
felt the fascination of Hindu ideals and Hindu culture: he accompanied Sultan Mahmud to India, and in India made a study of Sanskrit and, with love and reverence in his heart, read the “Bhagavad Gita”. In her long history hath India been blessed by Great Ones, again and again. On six of them, specially, have I loved to meditate. They are among the Ancestors of Aryavarta: Sri Rama, avatara of Shakti; Sri Krishna, avatara of Wisdom born of Ananda or Bliss; Buddha and Mahavira, avataras of Compassion; Sant Kabir, avatara of Nama [the Word or Name Divine]; and Guru Nanak, avatara of Fellowship, Unity and Peace.
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Krishna played upon the murli, the flute. In its notes, Krishna sang His vision of Life, a vision of Wisdom and Joy. “Why do you always wear black?” asks a character in a little drama. And she replies: “I am in mourning for my life. I am unhappy!” Many, alas! are unhappy. The world needs a message of strength, life and joy. Civilisation lies prostrate today. The Lord of the Flute brings us a message of a new life: “Bound for Brahmaloka are ye, bound for Beauty Eternal! Why wander ye away from Love? Why spend your strength in separation, in hate and strife?” With this message is melodious the “Bhagavad Gita”. It is regarded as the essence of Hindu Wisdom. “All the Upanishads,” we read, “are the cows, men of purified intellect are the drinkers, and the Gita is the milk.” The “Bhagavad Gita” is the Song Universal. It is the Song of Life. Wrong it is, I humbly submit, to think that the Gita asks us to run away from life. The Gita shows us how we may eliminate the “ego” and enter into the “Self”, how we may abandon ugliness and illusion to embrace the spirit of Life and the Life of the Spirit. The Gita reveals Krishna (1) as Teacher of Dharma (righteousness); (2) as Lord of Compassion; and (3) as
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Servant of Humanity. “In every age,” He says, “I come back (i) to serve the good, (ii) to destroy the sin of the sinner, and (iii) to enthrone dharma, righteousness.” In the teaching of the Master, activity or “work” is not discarded; work and wisdom are unified, are regarded as one. But “work” should be purified of “desire”. It is “impure” work which has made men unhappy. “The world,” says the Gita, “is imprisoned in its work, in its activity dominated by desire.” (2) “Work” of the true type must become a “yagna”, an offering to God. “Perform action sacramentally,” says the Gita; “perform action as worship of God!” Karma or action should be a sacrament, a yagna, an offering to God ! (3) Of impurities must “action” be freed. These are three: the Gita refers to them as the “three gates of Hell”. These are (i) lust; (ii) anger, and (iii) greed. (4) Hence the Gita’s emphasis on “duty”, swadharma. Every man has his duty to do. The householder must perform his duty: the merchant has his duty: the peasant has his. There is room on this earth-plane for the “warrior”, too: his duty, dharma is heroic action. The sanyasin or the “contemplative” man has his dharma, too: it is the
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pursuit of Wisdom which fulfils itself in holiness. All life, the Gita teaches, is sacred: and higher than “heroism” is “love” or “compassion”, which is to be poured on all creatures, birds and beasts, not alone on fellow-men. Thus spiritually equipped, a man may well be in the world and work for the world’s welfare, blessing all. Well says the Gita: When, indeed, a man hath no lust And no hatred in his heart, He well may move Safely among the things of lust and hate. (5) Attaining to wisdom and enriched with love, with compassion in his heart, a man may well mingle with all men and make his earth-pilgrimage a source of service to humanity and the universe. Such an one is called the man of realisation: he sees the One in all: he sees that God is the “light of the fire”, the “life of all that lives”: he sees that God is the “eternal seed of everything that grows”, that God is the “vigour of the active”, the “strength of the strong”. Who sees his Lord in every creature Deathlessly dwelling amid the mortal: He truly sees! Who sees the separate
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Lives of all creatures, Men and birds and beasts, United in Eternal God, Brought forth from His Hidden Depths, He truly findeth Brahma! Verily, such a man is truly wise. He acts, yet hath no desire for “fruits” of action. He acts, yet is not imprisoned in action’s “chain”. He acts, yet is free. Having conquered desire, he needs nothing. “Thou Krishna! Thou art my all! And having Thee, I need not any thing,” he says. Such a man acts and rises beyond action to the Eternal. He acts, but lusteth not after anything. He acts, yet calleth nothing his own! He acts, but is not bound. He acts, but is free. Broken are his bonds: illumined is his heart: his life becomes a mirror which reflects the One Supreme. This message gave the Lord five thousand years ago. This message may yet save modern civilisation. For I hold that His life and teaching are not for India alone. They are for the world. And centuries well may meet at the Lotus Feet of Him who “emptied” Himself of His Glory and played with the little ones, free children of earth and space, and loved cows and birds and loved the forlorn and forsaken ones and loved, too, each lotus of the lake and each lily of the field.
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10 Practical Suggestions To Grow In The SPIRIT OF FORGIVENESS** J. P. VASWANI
As soon as you find someone has hurt you, immediately offer a prayer. God help me so that this hurt does not enter into my heart and becomes a festering wound. This is the very first practical suggestion. You can push out hatred. You can push out the hurt when it comes to you as a feeling. Once you let it in, the hurt becomes the master and it will keep on pricking you all the time, as long as memory lasts. Practical suggestion number two. Unburden yourself. Go to a spiritual elder, tell him everything that is in the heart within. He will understand you. Because he has passed through this stage himself, he will understand. Write a letter
to the person who hurts you. And as you write the letter, open out your heart completely, pour all the venom into that letter let the letter be full of as many harsh words as possible. After you have written the letter, tear it into pieces and as long as you hold the pieces in your hands keep on praying to the Lord, so that God’s benedictions may flow into the life of the wrong doer. The idea is to unburden yourself. Then it becomes easy to forgive. There was a man who came to Abraham Lincoln and said to him, “So and so has treated me very horribly, what shall I do?” And Abraham Lincoln said to him, “Why don’t you write to him a letter and pour out all
*August 2 at 2 pm kindly observe ‘MOMENT OF CALM’ and forgive one and all. ** Notes of a talk.
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the feelings that you have in the heart within, the feelings of enmity, the feelings of criticism. Whatever you have in the heart within pour in that letter.” This man went, it took him three hours to write a letter, Lincoln told him, let it be a very, very hard letter. After three hours he came back to Lincoln and said, “I have written the letter, now shall I post it to him?” “Post it! No, no, no. Tear it into bits and throw it into the waste paper basket.” You have expressed yourself that is enough. Once you unburden yourself, once you express yourself, you will find it easy to forgive, because as I said, that which has gone into the heart has come out. Practical suggestion number three. Forgive others but also forgive yourself. Each one of us carries a load of guilt on our minds and hearts. There is not a man in the whole world who has not done some wrong or the other in the past. I often tell my friends that if ever there is a man who has never done a wrong you will find that as he walks the earth his feet will be six inches above the ground. Every man has done some wrong or the other, what should we do? We should try to make amends if we can. We should repent before the Lord, and ask for wisdom and strength, never
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to repeat that action in the future. And then forget about it. We must learn to forgive ourselves. We carry all the load of guilt on our minds hearts and this robs us of our peace, we become our own enemies. Practical suggestion number four. If we carry resentment in the heart within, it will do us harm. I may hold resentment against someone in the heart within. I may not harm you at all but I am harming myself. There are people who suffer from diseases just because they hold grudges in their heart against people. There was a woman she had rheumatic pain in the knee joints. She consulted a number of doctors, they would give her painkillers but they would work only for a while, the pains would return and the pains went on increasing until one day she met a holy man and described her condition to him. And the holy man asked her point blank, “Do you hold a grudge against anyone in the heart within?” She didn’t want to answer first. After hesitating she said, “Yes, I hold a grudge against my own sister who behaved very horribly towards me and I am unable to forgive her.” The holy man said to her, “So long as you are unable to forgive, so long will these pains be your constant
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companion. You must learn to forgive, and your pains will disappear.” At first she found it very difficult to do so, finally the pains made her go to the sister. She went and hugged her sister and said to her, “Let us bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones.” And soon after that the pains disappeared. We must realise this once and for all, we are harming ourselves when we hold on to resentment. Practical suggestion number five. Every night before you retire, think of all the persons who have wronged you, who have cheated you, who have exploited you, who have taken advantage of you. Think of them and actually utter their names — Mr. X, Mrs. Y, Miss Z, I forgive you! I forgive you! I forgive you. So help me, God. Actually do it and you will find that you will have sound sleep at night, you will find that your mind will be cleansed, it will be uncluttered. We keep on cluttering our minds and yet we want peace, how can we have peace. We do not merely want peace for ourselves, we want peace for the whole world, how can there be peace in the world when there is no peace in the heart within? Sadhu Vaswani said, “How can there be peace in the world when man’s hearts
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are a volcano.” Our hearts are seething with selfishness with hatred, with greed, with all sorts of negative thoughts. How can there be peace in the world? Every night do it, because everyday somebody wrongs us, and remember that wrong is not being done by that somebody. I have invited it myself. There is the law of karma. I have done something in the past. I have sown a seed, the fruit whereof I am getting now. And practical suggestion number six. Make forgiveness a Habit. We must not rest content by forgiving once or twice or thrice. We must keep on forgiving as often as we are wronged. God forgives us, again and again. Howsoever wayward or disobedient we become, He is never tired of forgiving us. He is patient until, at last, we return to Him. There was a man who met me in Indonesia, Surabaya. He was a wealthy man. He said to me: One of my assistants has gone and reported against me to the tax authority six times. Six times he has lost his job. Six times he has come and begged forgiveness, six times I have reinstated him, how many times am I supposed to forgive him? He said, six times I have already done so. Then I told him that the same question was
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asked of a holy man: How many times shall we forgive? Shall we forgive seven times? And the holy man said: Seventy times seven! That is 490 times, you must forgive. In other words you must forgive and forgive and forgive. Practical suggestion number seven. Forgive before forgiveness is asked. Don’t wait for the person to ask for forgiveness. You forgive him, your mind will be at peace. You will be doing good to yourself. Otherwise your mind will keep on seething with all those hurtful memories. It was Jesus who said to his disciples, ‘If a man strikes you on the right cheek offer him the left also. If a man compels you to walk with him for a mile, go with him the second mile also.’ This teaching, this advice, this council, has a great therapeutic value. People who follow this advice remain healthy. Practical suggestion number eight. Forgive and forget. Somebody said that if a person says that he can forgive, but he cannot forget, it is like saying that he will not forgive at all. When you forgive, you have forgotten. Forgiveness is like a cancelled note torn into two, burnt in the fire, so that it never comes up again. It’s completely finished, its all over and gone.
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There were two friends, very old friends, they met together after several years. They met one evening, they said we will have dinner together. So at dinner they kept on speaking of their early days, student days and after that when they were together, they did not know how time passed. One of them suddenly found that it was at 3 o’clock in the morning. He said, we must hurry home, both of them hurried home. They met the next day and one asked the other, “Did your wife understand you when you returned 3 o’clock in the morning?” He said, “Of course yes, I explained to the wife and she understood, and everything is alright.” “How did your wife react?” And this man said, “My wife! She became historic.” The man said, “Historic or hysteric?” He said, “No she became historic. When I returned after 3 O’clock in the morning, she brought up all the things that had been done during the 30 years of our marriage life.” You don’t have to be historic, you don’t have to he hysteric, you have to understand. There was a man, he was on his deathbed, and he remembered that he held a grudge in his heart against someone who had not played
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fair with him. So he said before I die let me make up with the man. It is not right to carry grudge to the heaven world. So he sent for that man and told him, “Come I will give you a hug, let us forget whatever has happened.” The other man felt very happy. But as this man was about to leave, the man who was on his death bed called him and told him that this will apply only if I die. If I live I do not want to see your face again. You must forgive and forget. Practical suggestion number nine, if you hold a grudge against anyone, you should be careful to see that you speak very kindly concerning him, as often as possible. Go out of your way to help him, go out of your way to serve him. George Washington and Peter Miller, they were school mates. They studied together in the school and were great friends. George Washington became the President of the United States, Peter Miller became a preacher. In his Parish there was one man Michael Wittman. He persecuted Peter Miller everyday. He did all sorts of things to bring him down. Peter Miller was told that Michael Wittman had been involved in a treason charge and had been sentenced to death. And
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this preacher of the Word of God, walks 70 miles all the way from his parish to Philadelphia where Washington stayed and pleaded for Michael Wittman. But Washington said to him, “This cannot be done. I cannot grant you the life of your friend forgive me.” And Peter Miller exclaimed, “Friend? He is not my friend he is the bitterest enemy that I ever had.” And he described to him all the persecutions that he had suffered at his hands during the last 20 years. Then George Washington said, “He is your enemy, that puts a new aspect on the matter. Because when you plead for your friend, that is human, when you plead for an enemy, that is super human, that is divine. There must be the hand of God in it. How can I say no to God. I freely pardon this man.” You must go out of your way to help, to serve. And practical suggestion number ten, the last practical suggestion, you must go a step further. You must love the wrong doer, you must bring him back into your life, you must love him. These ten practical suggestions, let us carry in the heart within. May the Lord so bless us that in His grace we may learn the art of forgiving aright.
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Jamshed: A Servant Of Humanity* SADHU VASWANI When the heart is full, the fewest words are the best: and today my heart is full. The hearts of many of my countrymen are full. For yesterday came the news that, in my dear nativeland, in beloved Sind, passed away one whom so many loved and who served thousands of his countrymen. Brother Jamshed, beloved Jamshed, passed away. I recall significant words attributed to Socrates. When this great one is arrested and brought before trial in Athens, Socrates says: ‘‘I am a citizen, not of Athens, not of Greece: I am a citizen of the world.” And of dear Jamshed, it may be truthfully said, that he claimed kinship with humanity. A Parsi by birth, brother Jamshed belonged to all communities, for he belonged to the great Brotherhood of Humanity. He was a patriot of the purest ray serene. A lover of the Gita, he loved all the scriptures of all the nations. He was a worthy son of Zarathustra: and so he became a servant of Sri Krishna, of Buddha, of Jesus, of Mahomed — a servant of all the Saints and Prophets. He was a servant of the poor: I believe, I do not exaggerate, when I say that Sind did not see the like of him since the passing of Sadhu Hiranand. And surveying the life of India, at this hour of her greatest crisis, I do not see the like of Jamshed throughout the length and breadth of the land.
His voice, whose music was the gladness and inspiration of thousands — his voice is hushed today: but his memory rises all the more radiant in my heart. Sometimes, I felt when coming very near to him, that to touch the hem of his garment was almost a communion with a saint. He offered himself in the service of the poor, asking for no reward: compassion flowed out of his heart. Not once did he fail in answering the call of human suffering. A prince amongst men, he mingled with the humblest and the poorest: he had the joy which accompanies the ecstasy of simple life. Brother Jamshed’s life had the fragrance of the rose and the benediction of the singing bird. Homage to him! I invoke his blessings upon you all! And I turn to him with affectionate salutations and say to him: ‘‘Brother! thou art not dead: thou art but gone before me! Thou art not dead: thou art in the spiritual world which was so congenial to thy daily aspirations and life. Not finished art thy labours yet, beloved brother! We shall meet again, you and I — you, a Prophet of the poor, and I, an humble servant commissioned to wipe the tears of the widow and the orphan. We shall meet again! Fare on! Fare on and bless thy brother who still is working on this earth plane!
*Being notes of a tribute paid by Sadhu Vaswani to the memory of Sri Jamshed Nusserwanji Mehta at a memorial meeting held in St. Mira’s Hall on August 2, 1952.
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Birthday Aspirations* Rev. Dada J. P. Vaswani, under the grace of the benevolent guru and God, has completed 99 years of his most fruitfully spiritual life. When requested for a message for his birthday, he said:
“Year follows year in quick succession. Today, I am told, I have completed 99 years of life in the present body. The body has grown. The mind has become sharp. But what about the soul? Time is not measured by the years that we live but by the good that we do and the light we spread around us. In my heart is the prayer: ‘O Thou who can’st not be known, come and stay in my heart for ever and for ever more! ’”
— J. P. VASWANI *August 2 is sacred as Rev. Dada J. P. Vaswani’s 99th Birhtday.
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TILAK: THE PIONEER* SADHU VASWANI
Why does the memory of this man thrill my heart? Why does he grow greater as the years pass? Tilak was a Pioneer. With him starts a new period in Indian history: and the billions to be born in the ages to come will salute him as the Father of Indian Revolution. The Congress in his days was dominated by the Liberal school. He realised that a system cannot be overthrown by the tools belonging to that system. He understood that imperialism, itself a product of Liberalism, could not be defeated by the Liberal school.
He ruthlessly opposed imperialism and liberalism, opposed all opportunist attempts to maintain even a portion of “imperialism” in Indian politics. He asked India to cultivate a new revolutionmentality. He realised that all organic new-formation demands, in the last resort, a revolutionary change. The birth of a new nation could not come through counsels of “moderation” or “liberalism”. Young India was, then, in a state of prostration. Young India had not much will-toeffort. They let themselves go. They wished to come to
* August 1 is sacred as Lokamanya Tilak’s Punnyatithi (Anniversary).
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an understanding with the Englishman. They asked for comfortable living. Many were too anxious to imitate the West, softly thinking that in imitation of Western luxuries and Western manners and Western materialism was the hope of India. Tilak rejected this creed of softness. He believed that to build a New India, Indian youths must have strength of characterthe strength to endure solitude, isolation, persecution. When England was awaiting a Nazi invasion after France had been broken, Churchill assured the English that he had nothing to offer them but “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. Tilak promised Young India no seats in the Assemblies, no portfolios in the ministries. Tilak asked Young India to be trained in the Hard School. But he gave them selfassertiveness: he gave them confidence in India and her Destiny. He saw what most of us are beginning to see only today, the downward trend of Europe and so he asked India to beware of imitation. This great lover of the Gita and India’s heroic age in the long ago, this patriot who revered Ramdas, Sai Baba and other Saints, believed in the ideals of the Rishis: he believed, therefore, in India’s regeneration
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through the simple life and the true kshatriya spirit. But he understood, too, that India could not stand aloof from modern worldforces and so he believed in technical construction. His economic programme appeals to me, therefore, as based on a broader vision than that which fights shy of the machine. We live today in an age of the power of machines. We cannot, therefore, ignore or belittle the technological element of our times. The coming day will disclose what Freedom really means and how Freedom may be gained and guarded for the service of Humanity. In that day we in India shall have, I hope, shed much of our “pacificism”. In that day the youths of India will know much better than they seem to know today that, if they would achieve India’s freedom, they must look to no Empire for strength and inspiration. They must turn to the Rishis and Heroes of India. With Tilak’s consecration to the Great Cause of Freedom, must they set their feet upon the path leading upwards. With his singular devotion, and his strong spirit must they march forward, staking their very lives in the hope of making the dream of Indian patriots true.
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Children’s Corner WHO PASSED THIS WAY?
Which set of footprints do you think belongs to Skunk, to Raccoon, and to Opossum? Follow each trail to see if you meet the forest friend whom you expected to find.
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DOT-TO-DOT PUZZLE I had to hide from Farmer Brown. Don’t let him know that I’m around.
RIDDLE In the toy store, when two tin soldiers follow each other, what time is
Answers : Dot-To-Dot: Rabbit Riddle: Tin after tin
it?
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Simple Rules Of Health
FIVE REMEDIES FROM JEERA Jeera (cumin) seeds (cheerakam in Tamil, jeelakari in Telugu and jeerige in Kannada) are one among the commonly used spices in cooking. Being an aromatic substance it contributes good taste and smell to the dish. Cumin seeds are known as Jeeraka in Sanskrit. The word is derived from jeerna, meaning digestion. Cumin seed is very good in treating digestive track disorders. Cumin contains thymol which helps promote the production of saliva, bile and other enzymes responsible for food digestion. Cumin is a rich source of iron. A spoonful of cumin is useful to reduce body fat and thus useful in weight loss treatment. Cumin contains high levels of the substance
melatonin, which helps regulate sleep cycles. It contains riboflavin, vitamin B6 and niacin-useful in improving cognitive functions of brain. Ayurvedic texts contain references to several beneficial uses of cumin. It is carminative (deepana), digestive (pachana), anti flatulent (vatanulomana), analgesic (vedanasthapana), and anti spasmodic. It is in fact a tonic besides being a taste enhancer. It balances kapha and vata, and increases pitta. Gas Problems Here are five major remedies from this miracle spice. To treat flatulence (gas), fried cumin seeds, ginger powder are used. Four parts of cumin seeds, two parts of dry ginger and one part of salt (preferably rock salt)
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are taken and made into fine powder. This is consumed in the dose of half spoon just before taking food, along with warm water. This helps to evacuate the flatus, stimulate the digestive fire, reduce the abdominal distention, relieve regurgitation, burping and colic pain of abdomen. Next, treating indigestion, Jeera water is a known remedy for centuries for indigestion, anorexia and reflux oesophagitis. Just 20 grams of fried cumin seeds are taken and dry-fried a little. This is added to 200 ml of hot water and allowed to cool. When it is lukewarm this is taken twice daily. This helps to relieve most of the gastro intestinal problems, especially in children. Thirdly, a combination of cumin and jaggery is a remedy for menstrual pain. 50 grams of Jeera powder is fried in a pan. It is mixed with 25 grams of jaggery and pounded well. This is made into big pills of 5 grams size. This pill is taken 1-2 days prior to expected date of menstruation. Consume a cup of water or buttermilk after taking this. This can be continued even after menstruation for 2-3 days. This helps to reduce the pain and discomfort caused during menstruation. Fatigue Cumin medicated milk is recommended for fatigue and excessive thirst. Just five grams of cumin seeds along with 200
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ml milk and 400 ml water are boiled till it is reduced to the amount of milk or approximately to 200-250 ml. Add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar or jaggery. This can be a great substitute drink for coffee and tea. It relieves fatigue and thirst. It is also useful in morning sickness of pregnant women as well. Finally, jeeraka and sugar candy is a sweet remedy used as an expectorant to take out phlegm. Two grams of each of cumin seeds and sugar candy are taken and retained in the mouth for 3-5 minutes and gradually it is chewed and slowly swallowed. About 10-15 minutes later gradually phlegm starts coming out and it should be spitted out. This can be repeated 5-6 times in a day. This is useful in dry cough, pharyngitis, pain in the throat, etc. Cumin powder along kala namak (Sochal salt) is as a remedy to counter effects of excess intake of mango.
with used side sour
Research carried out by the Cancer Research Laboratory in South Carolina, USA, found that cumin can help fight cancer, due to cuminaldehyde, which is shown to slow the growth of tumors. It also has characteristics that accelerate the production of detoxifying and anti-carcinogenic enzymes, which can aid the prevention of colon cancer.
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Recipes For The Month GINGER CORIANDER COFFEE (SUKKU COFFEE)
• Add the milk and sugar / jaggery, stir well. Serve hot.
Ingredients Ginger, slightly crushed.......................... 2” piece Coriander seeds............................................4 tsp Palm jaggery to taste
BANANA FLOWER DAL FRY
Method • Bring 1 cup water to boil. Add the ginger and coriander seeds; lower heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Add the palm jaggery and stir until it dissolves. Serve hot. WHEAT COFFEE Ingredients Wheat kernels............................................. 500 g Coriander seeds............................................ 50 g Milk as desired Sugar/jaggery to taste Method • Dry-roast the wheat kernels in a wok on medium heat. • Roast them like coffee beans until they turn brown and smell good. • While roasting, do not allow them to char. • Dry-roast the coriander seeds the same way, until they smell good and become brown in colour. • Cool and powder both the wheat and coriander seeds together (this powder can be stored in a dry, airtight container for further use). • Bring 4 cups of water to boil. Add this ‘wheat coffee’ powder, lower heat, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. • Remove from heat and strain.
Ingredients Banana flower (trimmed, chopped).................. 1 Split pigeon peas (dhuli toovar dal, washed, soaked in 2 cups water for 1 hour) ........... ½ cup Split Bengal gram (dhuli chana dal), soaked in 2 cups water for 1 hour................................. ½ cup Red chillies......................................................... 2 Oil.................................................................2 tsp Mustard seeds............................................. ½ tsp Split black gram (dhuli urad dal), skinless. ½tsp Curry leaves....................................................7-8 Coconut, fresh, grated................................ ¼ cup Salt to taste Method • Drain the water and put the dals in a mixer with the red chillies and salt, and grind into a coarse paste using only a little water if required. • Steam the banana flower in a pan until soft. • Heat the oil in another pan; add mustard seeds. • As they splutter, add the black gram and curry leaves. • Add dal paste and saute on medium-low heat until the mixture begins to leave the sides
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of the pan. • Add the cooked banana flower to it and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes. • Adjust the salt and add the coconut. • Mix everything well together and remove the pan from the heat. Serve. GROUNDNUT CAPSICUM SUBZI
Ingredients Groundnuts................................................ ½ cup Capsicums, medium-sized, halved, deseeded, chopped into small even-sized pieces................ 3 Oil.................................................................3 tsp Cumin seeds................................................ ½ tsp White sesame seeds......................................1 tsp Gram flour................................................. ½ cup Sugar....................................................... 1 ½ tsp Salt to taste Method • Put the groundnuts in a pan and roast until fragrant and lightly brown. • When cool, remove the skin. Place in the mixer and grind coarsely. • Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan; add the cumin seeds. • As they begin to change colour, add the sesame seeds and groundnut powder. Stir well. • Add the capsicum and salt to taste; mix well. Cook on low heat until done. • Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in another pan. • Add the gram flour and saute, on low heat, until the gram flour becomes fragrant and turns golden brown in colour.
• • • • •
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Add the sugar and mix. Saute for 5-7 minutes on low heat. Add the cooked capsicum and mix well. Adjust the salt for 1 minute. Remove from heat and serve. BANANA STEM JUICE
Ingredients Banana stems.......................... 2 (approx. 200 g) Ginger, peeled, chopped......................... 1” piece Yogurt .........................................................1 cup Curry leaves....................................................6-8 Fresh coriander leaves, chopped....................2-3 Salt to taste Method • Remove the outer layer of the banana stem up to the core, where there are no more layers to remove. • Finely chop the inner part, simultaneously removing the hanging fibres. • As you cut the inner stem into pieces, put the cut pieces into water diluted with buttermilk - or in water mixed with lime juice - to ensure that the pieces do not change colour (if they are cut and kept separately, they turn brown in colour). • Put the banana stem pieces and ginger in a blender. • Add the curd, curry leaves and salt. Blend well together. • Add about 1 cup water and blend again until smooth. Pass the contents through a strainer. • Pour the juice into glasses and serve garnished with coriander leaves either at room temperature or chilled.
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