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SANT KABIR: A SPIRITUAL COMMUNIST SADHU VASWANI
The word “kabir” occurs in Hindi literature and means “great”. A truly great one, indeed, was Kabir. The word “kabir”, also, occurs in the poetry of the great Sindhi poet, Shah Latif. Surdas, Tulsi and Kabir are among the greatest names in Hindi literature. The supreme poet of Hindi literature is Tulsi, almost a contemporary of Shakespeare. Tulsi was adopted by a rishi, a forest mystic. And Tulsi wrote the matchless story of Sri Rama in matchless Hindi. His book, the “Rama Charit Manas,” reciting the deeds of Sri Rama, was regarded by Mahatma Gandhi as “the greatest book in all devotional literature.” Surdas was, like Homer, blind. This blind poet of Agra wrote remarkable poems on the life and adventures of Krishna. In his poems is a deep spirit of bhakti or devotion. In one of them he sings of the soul’s mystic separation from the Divine Spouse — Krishna, thus: *June 20 is sacred Kabir Jayanti Day.
Mine eyes rain tears, night and day: For me it is the rainy season always: For Shyam Sunder is away! Surdas was born in 1483. Kabir was born in 1440. Tulsi came much later, being born in 1532. A careful student of the literatures of India, Sir George Grierson, ventures to regard Tulsi as “the most important figure in the whole of Indian literature.” It cannot be denied that these three poets—Sur, Kabir and Tulsi, appeared in a trying period of India’s history. Satya yuga, with its emphasis on the inner life, had long disappeared. Kali yuga had set in, as a part of the cycle of time. And Kali yuga, with its emphasis on the outer world and outer life, had dragged the Indian people far away from the spiritual vision of India’s rishis. These three great poets sang poems of the Inner Life and the Spiritual Vision of India: they sang from the very depths of the heart. Kabir’s is a song of the heart. His religion
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is that of the heart. His message is, essentially, a message of the purified and emancipated heart. Kabir, a simple weaver of Banaras, had place in his heart for both the Hindu and the Muslim. He was fascinated by the teaching of Ramananda. And though brought up in a Muslim home, he became a devotee of Rama and wrote poems of rare beauty to interpret his religion of the heart, which recognised no temples, no mosques, no idols, no castes, but only God. When I think of Kabir, I love to think of him as a weaver with a delicate and smiling face, as a mystic with sparkling eyes. I never think of Kabir as an ascetic with a pale, emaciated face. I love to think of him as a singer of joy. Kabir was a child of music. In Kabir I behold a free, radiant spirit, sending out the love of his heart to Hindus and Muslims alike, to all creatures, including birds and beasts. He has an emotion of tenderness for the entire creation. To Kabir the universe is a swing in which the Lord of creation sits with His creatures to play with them the leela of joy. In one of his poems, Kabir sings thus: God dances in rapture: And when His great joy Touches the body and the mind, They cannot contain themselves. He holds all that is Within His Eternal bliss! Kabir surveyed the situation around him and he saw Hindus and Muslims quarrelling with one another in the name of religion. He realised that religions, which quarrelled with one another, were
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no better than creeds. Religions, he realised, to be a source of blessings, must reconcile, not fight, must bring together, not antagonise. He saw the pundit and the moulvi daily fighting with one another. He realised that a new, renovated Indian society required a new religion—one of brotherhood and peace and love. In song after song, Kabir sang of this religion of love. In song after song was an invocation of a new sermon on the mount, a new voice of compassion and brotherhood. In one of his songs are the following moving words: I am a child of Ram and Allah: I accept all gurus and pirs. O God — whether called Allah or Ram, I live by Thy holy Name! What avails it To wash your mouth, To count your beads, To bathe in holy streams, To bow in temples, If, while you mutter your prayers, Or go on pilgrimages, Purity is not in your heart? No wonder the brahmins were infuriated. Some of them sent a courtesan to tempt him. But he blessed her and she became his disciple. In Banaras, the number continued to increase of those who criticised Kabir and abused him. How patiently he bore it all! To be patient in the midst of persecution, to smile and be serene when others chastise you, there is the secret of the true joy which sings in the poems of Kabir. Picture after picture rises before my mind as I think of
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this simple weaver of Kashi. He weaves at his loom and earns his daily bread and, day after day, he serves the humble and the simple, offering food and cloth, offering bread and water to them, in such a simple, loving way that they cling to his lotus-feet. The proud of purse persecute him: but the poor ones bless him. He calls them “the poor of Rama.” Kabir is devoted, with the beautiful love of his kingly heart, to the poor and simple ones. With what joy they meet him! With what joy the peasants and the poor ones come to him and receive the benediction of his blessed heart! Kabir is a lover of the poor. Kabir is a spiritual communist: Kabir is a worshipper of the God of the broken ones. Kabir’s ethic was simple. He taught: (1) Live justly. Be sincere. Sincerity is the foundation of true religious life. Drive deceitfulness out of your hearts. (2) Forget not that God, the Supreme, is a Being whom you cannot chain in words and creeds. “He is a Nameless Being,” says Kabir, “of whom naught can be said.” Who can describe Him by the words of the mouth? Who can write Him on paper? Feel Him! Taste Him! And you may know how sweet He is. But you cannot explain Him. Can a dumb person, who tastes a sweet thing, explain how sweet it is? So avoid controversies in matters spiritual. Kabir warns against creeds and controversies. Drink thy Lord in silence! is the teaching emphasised by him, again and again.
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This teaching of Kabir — a rewording of the teaching of the “Upanishads”, influenced India’s great king, one of the greatest kings of all centuries, Akbar, when he said: “Each person, according to his condition, gives the Supreme Being a Name, but in reality to name the Supreme is vain.” Yes, for the Supreme is Nameless. Kabir, like the great poet of South India, Vamana, spoke disapporvingly of castes and pilgrimages. That poet wrote: “Why do you constantly revile the pariah? Are not his flesh and blood the same as our own? And does not He pervade the pariah? And of what caste is He?” So taught Kabir, also. (8) Go within and meet thy God who greets thee in the heart! Listen to Kabir’s own ravishing words: I laugh when I hear That the fish in the water is thirsty! Why wander ye when the water of life Is within you? * How sad to think that you go, From forest to forest, in search Of what is within you! * Go where you will: To Kashi or to Mathura, What do you gain if you do not see The vision within you? * O my heart! to what shore would you cross? The Shoreless Infinite Is within you! * Go where you will:
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Where will you find the place That may quench the thirst of your souls? The waters of life Are within you! * Be strong! Be brave! Be heroic! Enter in silence Within you! * And keep your foothold firm! Ponder well on these words, O my heart! And look within you! * Go not elsewhere! Put all imaginations away! Stand fast in what you really are! And behold what you really are! Within you! * No wonder such songs of bewitching beauty passed from mouth to mouth, ravished the hearts of Kabir’s countrymen, Hindus and Muslims alike. No wonder, when this great singer and saint passed on, Hindus and Muslims contended for his body, the Hindus saying, “We shall burn it;” the Muslims saying, “We shall bury it!” And the dispute between them rose to a pitch of hot controversy, when some one, wiser perhaps than the rest, raised the cloth that covered the body. When, lo and behold! They saw but heaps of flowers! The body had vanished: only the flowers remained! And some flowers the Hindus took and burnt them in Banaras: and some flowers the Muslims, took and buried them in Maghar. But the songs of this singer of the Secret shining in the heart
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within passed on from mouth to mouth among the people. And the songs of Kabir sang again in the heart of him, who came from Kabir’s own country of the Soul: the songs re-sang in the heart of Guru Nanak. And Kabir and Nanak blended into one and in matchless melody made a music of the Holy Spirit that moveth in the heart within! It is this Religion, of the Spirit, which India needs today, this Religion of Love, not the materialistic communism of the West—this Religion of the Heart, which India, in the coming days, will pass on to the Nations as a gift from Kabir and Nanak and the great galaxy of India’s saints and fakirs and singers of love and compassion. It is the Religion of the Heart which includes and transcends the religion of works. This Religion of the Heart will blend action with silence and prayer. This Religion of the Heart will teach that the chanting of words in temples or mosques is of little value compared to the true prayer of service and sacrifice. This Religion of the Heart, renouncing the externals of worship, will turn away from the temples and the mosques and the churches, which are untrue to the law of poverty and renunciation, when they amass wealth in the face of hunger and starvation around. And this Religion of the Heart, as Kabir taught again and again, will be the Religion of mercy to all creatures. Implanted deep in the heart of Kabir was compassion for all creatures. And he made it a rule that abstinence from flesh diet was incumbent on everyone who
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would be a member of his satsang or community. Kabir heard the voice of suffering. The vibrations of an invisible lyre seemed to descend on his soul from the very stars. “Kill not creatures,” he said; “and do not make the flesh an article of your food!” Kabir felt that in touching the creature, he was touching God. To Kabir, as to St. Francis, birds and beasts were brothers and sisters. He greeted them and poured upon them the love of his heart. Kabir was bred in a Muslim family: yet to him the cow was sacred and every creature was sacred. To three things, primarily, was Kabir’s life dedicated: (1) service of the poor: (2) manual labour, work by the hand; and (3) singing “Ram-Naam” from the depths of the heart to the Beloved who shineth in the heart within. The greatest of Kabir’s disciples was Dhani Dharmadas. He was a rich merchant and he spent his wealth (i) in spreading the faith of his Master; (ii) in the service of widows and orphans, of prisoners and pilgrims, and he did it all in a spirit of joy; (iii) and out of the depths of joy in his heart he, too, sang songs of wondrous beauty—songs to the Beloved. Orthodox priests and orthodox mullahs, alas! opposed Kabir. Kabir, who was a preacher of peace, not hatred, who endeavoured to unite classes and communities, Hindus and Muslims, in the one service of God and the people, felt that his presence in Kashi was an eyesore to many influential people. Kabir felt he should peacefully leave Kashi. When he actually was
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leaving Kashi for Maghar, to spend there the last days of his life, how the people, the poor and afflicted ones, crowded together to touch his blessed feet! Some tried to induce him to stay in Kashi. He opened his arms to embrace them, then went on his way of silent service and healing, saying: “Sri Rama calleth me to Maghar. May you all live in the Light of Rama! To him I go. Forget not that in Maghar is He and He is in Kashi, too! And may He bless you all!” Is not Kabir a Voice of the Ancient Wisdom? I know not what would have become of the religion of the rishis if Kabir and Nanak and Dadu Dayal and Rajab and the Sikh Gurus and a few others, who appeared in the Dispensation of saints and bhaktas, had not renewed it and restored it to its place in the heart of Hindusthan? Through their lives and teachings they renewed the inner life of India and, inspired by the truth of reconciliation, brotherhood and love, they transformed the social life of countless men and women. Kabir and Nanak became prophets of a new Religious Renaissance. And Nanak’s followers passed on the torch of this New Renaissance to many countries. The torch was aflame for more than three centuries and still flickers in the hearts of many bhaktas and seekers of God. And I can but trust that this New Renaissance will not be lost in the secular movements of today, but will continue ever more and more to grow in the New Epoch that awaits us.
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LAUGH YOUR WAY TO HEALTH My family and I were eating in an expensive restaurant, when I overheard the gentleman at the next table ask the waitress to pack the leftovers for their dog. It was then that his young son exclaimed loudly, “Whoopee! We’re going to get a dog.” *** A businesswoman is sitting at a bar. A man approaches her. “Hi, honey,” he says. “Want a little company?” “Why?” asks the woman. “Do you have one to sell?” *** “I’m beginning to understand exactly how the state lottery helps education,” a guy told his neighbour. “Every time I buy a losing ticket, I get a little smarter.” *** A man walked into a crowded city restaurant and caught the eye of a harried waiter. “You know,” he said, “it’s been 10 years since I came in here.” “Don’t blame me,” the waiter snapped, “I’m working as fast as I can.” ***
Abraham Lincoln was once taken to task by an associate for his attitude toward his enemies. “Why,” he was asked, “Do you try to make friends with them? You should try to destroy them.” To which Lincoln replied: “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?” *** Ours is a friendly city. If you will check this yellow pages in our phone book you will find that we have more doctors ushering in the new-born than we have undertakers ushering out the dead. *** They call it take home pay because there’s no other place you can afford to go with it. *** A man said that his biggest financial problem was at the end of the month when he had too much month left and not enough money. *** Who gave you that black eye?” “My wife.”
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“I thought she was out of town.” “So did I.” *** Dad, I can explain the poor grade I got in math. The batteries in my calculator went dead. *** We have a doctor in our town that has so much charm and personality that when he takes a woman’s pulse, he automatically subtracts 10 points for his own personality. *** A man went to the hospital to get a cardiogram. After the cardiogram had been taken, he was given a sheet of paper with a whole bunch of jiggly lines on it. He took it home and put it into his player piano and it played back, “Nearer My God to Thee”. *** A man who had been condemned to die was brought before the king for final review and disposition. The defendant pleaded that he wanted to live and the king said, “ I’ll make you a proposition. If you teach my horse how to fly within one year, I’ll set you free.” “Agreed,” said the defendant. “You’re cellmates.
a
fool,”
said
his
“No, I’m not,” he shot back. “How do you figure?” they asked him.
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“Well,” he said, “let’s look at the odds. They just might be on my side. In a year,” he said, “the king may die, the horse may die, or I may die, and then there’s always the outside possibility that I will teach that horse how to fly.” *** A pessimist is one who has financed an optimist. *** A preacher’s new car broke down just after his Sunday service. Monday morning he managed to drive the vehicle to the town’s one garage for repair. “I hope you’ll go easy on the cost.” He told the mechanic. “After all, I’m just a poor preacher.” “I know,” came the reply. “I heard you preach yesterday.” *** My wife means to loose weight. That’s why she rides horseback all the time.” “And what’s the result?” “The horse lost 10 kilos last week.” *** In a darkened theater where a suspenseful mystery story was being staged, a member of the audience suddenly stood up and cried. “Where is the murderer?” A threatening voice behind her replied, “Right in back of you, if you don’t sit down!”
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GURU ARJUN DEV* SADHU VASWANI
What is the wealth of a nation? Its heroes and martyrs, its rishis and saints. Today, June 8 is sacred to Guru Arjun Dev — one of the greatest heroes of Hindu history. Three centuries and more have passed since the great Guru passed on. His name shines among the immortals of history. Guru Arjun Dev was a great Teacher, a great Organiser, a great Poet and a great Leader. And in His mercy, God placed on the Guru’s head the crown of martyr, a shahid. A shahid is a witness. A shahid, “martyr” is a witness to Truth.
His life was like that of a flower. It was fragrance-filled. It was brief as the life of a flower is brief. Brief but beautiful. Brief but fragrance-filled. “What lives in history is the Cross,” says a German poet. The Cross is a symbol of the spirit of sacrifice. Sacrifice is immortal in history. The Guru suffered for the love of God. And I recall the words of an eminent man of letters: “Who falls for the love of God, rises like a star!” Guru Arjun Dev gave his life for the love of God. Today he shines like a star! Homage to him!
*June 8 is sacred as Guru Arjun Dev Martyrdom Day.
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Children’s Corner COMPARISONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
AS BLACK AS AS BOLD AS AS DARK AS AS DRY AS AS GOOD AS AS HARD AS AS LIGHT AS AS NICE AS AS RIGHT AS AS SURE AS
______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________
Can you write in the missing words? Here they are, but not in the right order: AIR, BRASS, DUST, EGGS, GOLD, INK, NAILS, NIGHT, PIE, RAIN.
RHYMERS In each sentence, two words have been left out. The missing words rhyme with each other. 1. A ___________ in the ___________ may make mother nervous. 2. When at the seaside, it’s nice to ___________ the ___________. 3. A ___________ may be needed when a ___________ is derailed. 4. In cricket, the ___________ you ___________ the better. 5. There are many westerly ___________ in ___________. 6. A stupid boy may be known as a ___________. 7. Fried plaice is a ___________. 8. A ___________ is a ___________ of bread 9. It’s dangerous to walk in the ___________ after ___________. 10. An idler is one who likes to ___________. 11. A ___________ can be tiring to the eyes. 12. A ringing ___________ may be heard on the ___________.
Answers: Comparisons: 1) Ink, 2) Brass, 3) Night, 4) Dust, 5) Gold, 6) Nails, 7) Air, 8) Pie, 9) Rain, 10) Eggs Rhymers: 1) Mouse, house 2) Reach, beach 3) Crane, train 4) More, score 5) Gales, wales 6) Silly, billy 7) Fish, dish 8) Baker, maker 9) Park, dark 10) Shirk, work 11) Bright, light 12)Tone, phone
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WHY IS THE MIRA MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION UNIQUE? J. P. VASWANI
In some of the villages in Africa, huge lights are kept burning in rest houses: and tired travellers, spent in strength, on seeing those lights from afar, heave a sigh of relief. And filled with joy, they hasten their steps in the direction of the lights to seek rest and refreshment. Every home of culture is such a centre of light and restfulness. St. Mira’s Institutions are meant to be such centres of refuge for weary pilgrims who trudge eternally the world’s highways in quest of the knowledge that giveth peace. St. Mira’s Institutions were founded by
Sadhu Vaswani that they might keep burning the light of Indian Ideals in the darkness of these days. They are the ideals to which St. Mira bore witness in her earth pilgrimage,—the ideals of simplicity and sympathy, of service and sacrifice, of purity and prayer, of humility and adoration of the Eternal. St. Mira’s Movement in Education was founded, eighty-three years ago, by Sadhu Vaswani. In him is mirrored, as perhaps in very few, the New Renaissance of India. Shunning the glaze and glare of life, he has in a quiet way laid the foundations of a Movement
*June 4 is the 83rd Foundation Day of the Mira Movement in Education founded by Sadhu Vaswani.
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which has a rich potency for the future. His love for the young is as inexhaustible as his faith in the spiritual values of India’s culture. It is with the vision of a seer and out of an abundant faith in the glory that is to be India, that he has evolved this Movement, which attempts at enriching students with vital truths of modern life and at the same time making them lovers of the Indian Ideal and India’s culture. Such an education is essential to India’s social and political salvation : without it our new won freedom threatens to be barren as the sea’s bare sands. The Movement has rightly received recognition in East and West. Tributes have been paid to the Movement and its ideals by eminent educationists like Dr. Maria Montessori, Dr. Arundale and Dr. Radhakrishnan. The last two, indeed, presided at the Annual Functions of St. Mira’s High School in 1944 and 1945. Dr. Arundale spoke of the School as “an oasis in our educational desert.” Dr. Radhakrishnan expressed himself as deeply impressed with the strivings of the Movement to reincarnate educational ideals of the Rishis of India in modern forms and modern institutions. In a recent American publication, “Where do you belong?” the authors describe this Movement as one of the twetny-two great Movements of the world. All his life Sadhu Vaswani has been an educationist — Teacher, Professor, Principal of more than one College. And in this
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Movement that he has started, he has poured the best of his experience and the richest of his wisdom. Sadhu Vaswani chose his native place — HyderabadSind — to start a centre of New Life. He came in contact with the young with whom, as he often says, it has pleased Providence to knit his heart from the days of his manhood. He met students and communed with their minds and hearts: he saw the glow of a great faith in their eyes: he looked into their needs — their cravings and strivings and aspirations. What did he find? Schools and colleges were at best so many caves in which students received only blurred images. The light of the sun, the light of Indian culture, did not enter the caves : and students, as they grew up in ignorance and forgetfulness, busied themselves with chasing shadow-shapes of wealth and fame and power. Intelligence had been set free but self-knowledge and self-control were forgotten. Intellect had developed but reverence was lacking. Critical faculties were given free play, but sympathy, the power that binds and builds, was receding. Knowledge without sympathy did more harm than good. It made men suspicious and cynical. As he surveyed the situation, more and more, sadness crept into his soul. Schools and colleges, he said to himself, must be free from alien influences. And the ideals that inspired education in ancient India must
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be re-discovered and introduced in our institutions, if we are to make our contributions to civilisation and add to the freshness of human life. St. Mira’s Movement is aimed at unfolding a new renaissance of culture. This new culture, as Sadhu Vaswani thought of it, has seven notes: manual work, knowledge, simplicity, purity, courage, service and selfconsecration. Students in St. Mira’s School are given a triple training of the hand, the head and the heart. Great stress is laid on the training of the heart. And every morning, as the school bell tolls the beginning of the day’s work, students gather together in the “Sanctuary” Hall and begin their work with worship. Lives and teachings of the great ones of history are passed on to students. The outlook of the School is non-sectarian. A spacious Fellowship Hall was in the process of being built on the grounds of St. Mira’s New Building at Hyderabad-Sind as a witness of the Movement to the great ideal of Fellowship of Humanity and reverence for all the scriptures and prophets of the world. Students in St. Mira’s Schools are taught to make God the centre of their lives. “Forget Him not, my children!” Sadhu Vaswani was never tired of telling them; “forget Him not who never forgets you!” At a time when revolt against religion is rising and an increasing number of men and women are coming
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under the sway of atheistic materialism, St. Mira’s School raises its voice: “Turn back to God! Without Him life has no meaning, no significance, no value!” Mira Students are asked to be simple in dress and diet, in manner and daily life, and are called upon to develop courage. The “Bhagavad Gita” is regularly taught, not as a document of a dead past, but as a living scripture of heroism, calling upon the youths of India to stand up bravely on the battle-field of life. The one thought that is repeatedly passed on to students in St. Mira’s School is that the end of all knowledge is service. Not intellect alone, but also the intuition, emotions and will must be trained and used in service of men and birds and animals, urged Sadhu Vaswani. The students are taught to dedicate their time and talents to the service of suffering creation. A girl once came to Sadhu Vaswani and asked: “What shall I do in life?” And Sadhu Vaswani answered: “Offer your life as a gift to St. Mira and to her Eternal Beloved — Sri Krishna!” By precept and example he has taught St. Mira’s students to prepare and purify themselves to be the builders of a New Temple of Service. So is knowledge blended with sympathy in the teaching of the Mira Schools. We behold today the tragic spectacle of the disintegration and total break-up of all values — social, moral and
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spiritual. So there are wars and violence and scientific barbarism, bloodshed and destruction and strife. “You call this an age of science and democracy,” Sadhu Vaswani said to me, one day; “I call it an age of technics and tyranny.” Humanity seems to have gone off the track and it is the responsibility of modern education to get her back to the right road. “What is the purpose of new education?” I asked him, and Sadhu Vaswani said: “To evoke the creative principle in the life of the student.” How may this be done? Through a process of what he calls “dehypnotisation.” We are, as it were, under the spell of the world — its enchanting forms and ego-allurements. And so we go about as men and women under a hypnotic spell, forgetful of our real selves. Our surface personality is not our real self: our surface personality is a mask. The problem is to put away the mask and touch the reality — the centre of creativity within. And so we need to be “disenchanted,” “dehypnotised.” Every School, to fulfil its purpose aright, must become a centre of “dehypnotisation.” And a man is “dehypnotised” in the measure in which, as Sadhu Vaswani said, his knowing is in tune with his being. Current education is informative, not formative. We read, we study, we memorise facts and gather information: but our lives continue to be hollow and wasteful as a whirlwind. We are conceited, selfish, dishonest.
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Our knowing has outrun our being, because we have placed far too great an emphasis on the development of the intellect and ignored the emotions and the will. Our intellects have been sharpened: and the intellect is a double-edged sword. The basis of life is the heart. We need to unfold the centre of the Heart and we need to strengthen our will-power. So many of our educated people, alas! fall an easy prey to lust and greed and other temptations. The purpose of new education, according to Sadhu Vaswani, is to relate knowing with being. And for this, he says, two disciplines are necessary: (1) The discipline of work: for work is the touchstone of life; and (2) the discipline of fellowship with an evolved soul: and every true teacher is an evolved soul. The task, as those who work in St. Mira’s know, is tremendous, stupendous. And yet, as the Chinese say, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. This had been Sadhu Vaswani’s vision: this has been the dream that has haunted him for years together. And the vision will be verified and the dream will come true in the measure in which, as Sadhu Vaswani said, “the Mira Schools will be radiant with the love of God and love of man, and the Mira students, growing into youth and manhood, will learn more and more to clasp God to their hearts and find their purest joy in serving suffering creation.”
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SIMPLE RULES OF HEALTH
41 TIPS FOR PERFECT HEALTH 1. Drink eight glasses of water a day. 2. Include two vegetables and one fruit in every meal. 3. Begin each meal with a raw vegetable salad. 4. Make a light snack of assorted sprouts. 5. Once a week have only fresh fruits until noon, make lunch the first meal of the day. 6. Eat only freshly cooked meals, not refrigerated leftovers. 7. Go on a ‘juice fast’ for a day. Start with vegetable juice, and sip fruit juice for lunch and dinner. 8. Kick the old coffee habit. Have a glass of fresh fruit juice instead.
9. Cut out all deep-fried foods from your diet. 10. Cut down on high sugar products like soft drinks, icecream, candy and cookies in your diet. 11. Include high fibre foodsplenty of fruits, vegetables and grains in planning your diet. 12. Use salt in moderation. 13. Wash vegetables thoroughly in clean water before chopping. 14. Steam or boil vegetables (rather than fry or saute). 15. Retain peels of potato, cucumber, carrot and tomato while cooking. 16. Don’t rush through your meals. Set aside enough time to appreciate, enjoy and digest your food.
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17. Make every meal an enjoyable experience. Set dishes out attractively and chew slowly to appreciate the full flavour of the foods you eat. 18. Watch out for eating habits paired with emotional states, like reaching for a chocolate when you’re depressed. Resist the urge and eat fruit instead. 19. Eat popcorn (rather than chips) while watching a movie. 20. Sit at the table at meal times. Don’t read the paper or review bills while eating. 21. Make it a point to have dinner with the entire family at the table, and not in front of the TV. 22. Eat just to the point of fullness. Don’t stuff yourself! 23. Stop smoking. 24. Restrict consumption.
alcohol
25. Get a good sleep, every night.
night’s
26. Enroll today exercise programme.
in
an
27. Take a brisk, 20 minute invigorating walk each morning. 28. Do not use elevators when you can climb the stairs. 29. Focus on your breathing. Take a deep breath, then exhale slowly. Repeat a couple of times a day.
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30. Learn to relax. Spend 20 minutes consciously relaxing each muscle of your body. 31. Spend 20 minutes a day in silent meditation, prayer or contemplation. 32. Learn the healing power of laughter. Watch a crazy movie, recall a joke or read a funny book and laugh out loud. 33. Tap the powers of your sub-conscious. Relax your body for 20 minutes and project the ‘Perfect you’ on your mind screen. 34. Balance your lifestyle. Devote equal time each week to work and fun. 35. Join kids in a sports activity and rediscover the joys of childhood. 36. Do keep in touch with friends. Call up or visit them and be at peace with the world. 37. Enroll in an activity (like dancing, swimming or roller skating) you never indulged in because you were afraid of “what people might say”. 38. Forgive someone who you think has done you wrong and cleanse your spirit of rancour. 39. Spend a quiet half-hour chatting with your family. 40. Listen to soothing music for 15 minutes at least each day. 41. Read a great book once a week.
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Recipes For the Month SWEET MANGO CHUTNEY Ingredients: Mango............................................................. 1 kg Sugar.......................................................... 750 gm Kalonji.............................................................1 tsp Jeera................................................................1 tsp Chilli powder.................................................1 tbsp Peppercorn....................................................1 tbsp Cinnamon...............................................1 pc 1 inch Tej patta................................................................ 2 Ground nutmeg...........................................a pinch Chopped garlic.......................................... 10 flakes Salt................................................................1 tbsp Acid................................................................1 tbsp Method: • Peel and cut mangoes into pieces • Mix sugar into it and keep it for an hour. In between stir until sugar melts • In a dekchi put the mangoes, chopped garlic, jeera, salt, chilli powder, bay leaves. • Cook on a moderate flame for 15 minutes • Add kalonji, peppercorn, cinnamon, nutmeg. • Stir till the color becomes light brown and then becomes soft. • Remove from fire and add the acid. • Keep aside. Leave overnight to cool, then store in clean jars. HARA CHUTNEY Ingredients: Sugar or jaggery.............................................1 tsp Thick tamarind water....................................¼ cup Salt..................................................................1 tsp Grind to a paste : Onion ................................................................... 1 Coriander leaves................................1 large bunch
Green chillies.....................................................4-5 Mint......................................................Few springs Garlic............................................................1 clove Ginger.........................................................1” piece Method: • Dissolve the sugar or jaggery and salt in the tamarind water. • Mix all the ingredients together. • Correct seasoning or sugar, if necessary. • If coriander leaves are not available use six or eight spring onions instead. SINDHI VEGETABLE PICKLE Ingredients: Cauliflower - washed and cut into florets............. 1 Carrots - pealed and cut into long strips.............. 2 Small onions- peeled, ..............................250 gms washed and kept aside Green chillies chopped finely.............................. 10 Garlic...................................................10-15 flakes Ginger chopped into slices....................2 inch piece Red chilli powder..................................2½ - 3 tbsp Haldi powder...................................................1 tsp Sugar.............................................................¾ cup Water...........................................................1½ cup Kalonji seeds....................................................1 tsp Peppercorns.....................................................8-10 Vinegar (white).............................................1 tbsp Pickle masala or Rai powder.........................1 tbsp Methi powder.................................................1 tbsp Salt..............................................................to taste Method: • Cut the vegetables and keep ready in a container. • In a saucepan make syrup with sugar and water.
JUNE 2016
EAST AND WEST SERIES
• Once syrup cools, add all the other ingredients. • Pour this sugar syrup over the vegetables and mix. • Leave overnight in the vessel. • Store in a dry jar for a day. ONION PICKLE Ingredients: Onions............................................................. 1 kg Freshly ground mustard............................... 50 gm Salt, red chillies, haldi.................................to taste Method: • Peel the onions and cut into 4 pieces • Mix in all the spices. Add a glass of water • Fill into sterilized glass jars • Keep in the sun under a shade. Shake the bottle from time to time. • It will be ready to eat in 3-4 days • The shelf life will be 7 days TOTAPURI KACCHE AAM KA MURABBA Ingredients: Totapuri mango............................................... 1 kg Sugar.......................................................... 750 gm Shahijeera.......................................................1 tsp Chirongi / kaljeera / onion seeds....................2 tsp Flaked almonds.................................................6-7 Boondi ka lar...............................................A pinch Method: • Peel the mangoes and cut them into long wedges. • In a big vessel put the sugar in 3 cups of water and cook. • When the sugar has dissolved add the mango pieces. Stir once or twice. • Cover the vessel with a lid. Put the flame on sim and let it cook for 5-15 mins, stirring from time to time. • In 20 to 25 mins the sugar solution should form a thread like consistency and the mango should have softened. Switch off the gas. • Now add the boodi ka lar, shahjeera, chironji, and almond flakes. • When cool fill into glass jars.
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GAJAR KA ACHAR Ingredients: Carrots (gajar)................................................. 1 Kg Fresh ground mustard.................................. 50 gm Salt..............................................................to taste Red chillies and haldi..................................to taste Oil..................................................................1 tbsp Optional – add a few chopped garlic leaves Method: • Wash the carrots and peel • Cut into long sticks • Add salt , haldi, red chillies, ground mustard • If desired the optional chopped garlic leaves maybe added now. Add oil. • The mixture could now be filled into glass jars and closed • The glass jars should be kept in the sun and covered area and shaken every day • In 3-4 days the carrot pickle will be ready • The shelf life would be a week BHOONDI RAITA Ingredients: Channa flour....................................................2 tbs Baking powder............................................a pinch Plain raita......................................................1 cup Cummin seeds, roasted Chilli and pepper powder Coriander leaves Ghee Method: • Mix the channa flour and baking powder and mix into a soft paste. • Do not add salt. • Heat ghee in a deep frying pan. • Pass the dough through a thick sieve directly on to the hot ghee, so that it falls in small balls. • Fry these till brown, and drain. • When cool, soak them in the raita. • Add cummin seeds. • Decorate with crossing lines of chilli and pepper powder. • Garnish with coriander leaves.
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