East and West Series - June 2023 Issue

MIRA MOVEMENT

WHAT STANDS FOR*

SADHU VASWANI

I turn to India’s youths and in humility say to them: “Your urgent need, the need of India’s educational institutions and cultural centres, the need of India’s public life and social activities is: cultivate the soul. For this stands the Mira School”

Civilisation, today, is breaking; and East and West are passing through tremendous events. Yet in flows the shakti of India’s heroes and saints. And the new day is calling us to a new life, to new communion with the soldier and the saint, with the peasant and the labourer, with the poor and broken ones.

On this institution is inscribed the name of a holy one. She was a saint, a singer and a great teacher. To India, still questioning, still struggling for the larger freedom of life, Mira gives the message: “You are not free till your womanhood is free and until you have redressed the wrongs of the masses the real people.”

St. Mira, I regard as a great teacher of humanity. In her poems rich in beauty and inspiration, she sings of four sources of education: (1) Nature:

(2) heroes and saints;

(3) the village-folk; and (4) the little ones.

*Being notes of an Address delivered on the occasion of the Annual Function of St. Mira’s High School.

The Mira School is a servant of the world’s sages, rishis and saints. It stands for a new type of education. Our emphasis is not on numbers but on these five things: (1) quality; (2) character; (3) community service; (4) love of Indian ideals; and (5) reverence for humanity.

We emphasise quality in education and so students are taught to have faith in themselves. “Believe in yourselves, “we say to pupils of the Mira School; “believe and achieve!”

Therefore, our emphasis, secondly is on character. Education of character is what we aim at. Our emphasis is not on text-books, though we prepare our pupils for various examinations and the School has shown commendable results, at the S. S. C. examination, year after year. Our emphasis is on the following qualities of character:

(i) Courage. The Mira School’s great word is, “shakti”. Be strong, we say; meet failure with success! Work on in strength of body and mind and heart and the will-to-achieve! “Say not the struggle not availeth: say not the labour and the wounds are in vain!”

(ii) We recognise, therefore, the value of games. At once, Greece and India, in the long, ago, believed in the moulding power of games. The Mira School is trying to build up a

system of games which may be a synthesis of Indian and western games. Body-building, we believe, is nation-building. We recognise the value of military drill. We also believe in the value of Indian system of breathing exercises and archery as helpful in building the powers of concentration.

(iii) We believe more in the transforming power of the teacher than text-books. The word, character, radically means, impression. Who impresses? The teacher of the true type. And so, we endeavour to bring to this school, teachers of the true type. Clever men are plenty; but the need is of teachers who are friends of the pupils’ minds and hearts. Such teachers inspire trust.

In an atmosphere of shraddha did pupils move in the ashramas of old. In an atmosphere of trust must the pupils of today move to receive right education. Only in such an atmosphere may teachers and pupils participate in a common life. We endeavour to see that the Mira School builds up a community of teachers and students. The Gita, we regard as a scripture of shakti, therefore, as a scripture of India’s national life. Great is our emphasis on “Gita and Games”. In the Gita we read of samvada — dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna. True education is a dialogue between the teacher and the

pupil, is a communion of their minds and hearts — one with the other.

(iv) The fourth quality of character we emphasise in St. Mira’s School is discipline. Its secret is voluntary obedience, not compulsion which is bound to arouse rebelliousness and which may result in humiliation and disunion. True discipline is not interference with the pupil but an endeavour to influence him. True discipline is what in the medieval books of Japan, was called Boshido. The “knightly way”. In India it was called the “way of the kshatriya”. India needs today centres of culture where teaching may be given in the right kshatriya way. India needs today a new revival of the spirit of the kshatriya. I look around and see that the homes and lives of my beloved people are broken. I wish the Mira School to re-build the community and the country. For this bands of young men are needed who, filled with the true kshatriyaspirit, may become servants and saviours of society.

(v) The fifth quality of character is reverence for great figures. The image of some great character must go into the heart of every student. With a view to this, we desire to construct, in the new Mira Building a “Hall of Heroes.” There students will be brought together in the presence of great ones of

East and West and receive the inspiration of their deeds and devoted lives.

Man, becometh what he thinketh upon — said a Rishi of ancient India. Not a system of maxims, but models, great figures, great characters, radiant with the light of great ideals, can really shape the lives of the pupils. With this idea, we in the Mira School, celebrate the days sacred to the great ones of humanity — the poets and prophets, the seers and sages, the rishis and thinkers, the heroes and holy men, men of action and devotion, men and women of dedicated lives — from the days of Yagnavalkya and Arjuna to the latter period of Shivaji and Rana Pratap, of Kabir and Guru Nanak, and the more modern period of the heroes of our history like the Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi.

The emphasis of the Mira Movement, then, is firstly on quality and secondly on character. Our emphasis in the third place, is on community service. In emphasising community-service, we teach our students to think of others and specially of the poor and needy ones.

We also emphasise love for Indian ideals. The Mira School believes that to build up India’s destiny anew, we needs must be in touch with agricultural needs, with peasants and labourers.

Cities, we believe, are soul-less. And I look forward to the day when the Mira Movement may become a real movement of new education by opening centres of true Indian culture in India’s villages and draw together the village-folk in the service of Indian ideals. Friends of the Mira Movement, therefore, are needed in many parts of India.

And lastly, the emphasis in the Mira plan of education is on reverence for humanity. Let every teacher and every student of the Mira School be an ambassador of humanity. Let not our nationalism be narrow, egoistic, but let the ideals of peace and a new community of the nations, a new Asian brotherhood as a symbol of world brotherhood, be impressed upon everyone who would be a helper and a servant of the Mira Movement.

Of all our resources, we believe, the richest are the minds and hearts of a few who feel the fascination of the life dedicated. They and such as they, in different parts, will, I believe, be the architects of a new India, an India of emancipated masses, of happy, prosperous village-folk. They and such as they will be the builders of a new unity of mankind, a new brotherhood of the races. They and such as they will, with faith in unity and the will-to-achieve, fulfil the dream in mine eyes. They and such

as they will bring some back to their own unity, the unity of the self, the unity of the atman. They and such as they will, I trust, be to many in the years to come, the interpreters of St. Mira’s message. In a few words this message is briefly thus: “Awaken thy soul, O student! And dedicate thy powers to the service of India and humanity for thou art an atman!” The motto of the School is, in a few significant words thus: “O wanderer! Thy homeland calleth thee!” Our homeland is the atman, the spirit. This, indeed has been the voice of India and her sages through the ages. It is the voice of St. Mira.

At the close of the first World War, Germany was declared a republic. It was a period of stress and strain in Germany. In the new Government, which Germany established, the portfolio in economics was in charge of a great Jewish thinker and statesman, Rathenau. He looked around, surveying the situation of his country; he studied, specially, the situation of German youths: he felt their pulse: he listened to their questioning minds. And for their benefit, specially, he wrote a book, named The Way of Economics. Towards the close of this book, this great thinker, this ardent patriot, this lover of the German fatherland, indicated Contd. on page 22

Attention, Parents!

DADA J. P. VASWANI

I saw a little child sitting on a stone, in a pensive mood. “What ails thee, my child?” I asked him.

And he answered: “I feel lonely. It seems as though there is no one to care for me in this spacious, starlit world.” “Where are your father and mother?”

And with tear-touched eyes, he answered: “Daddy is busy with his factory, and Mummy spends all her time in social work. I have all the comforts at home. A car comes to leave me in the school and fetch me back home. There are servants to look after me. All my needs are provided for. But my heart craves for love.”

(From an Address)

I met the parents of this boy. I said to them even as I have said to many other parents: “Suppose you were given a diamond as big as the Kohinoor: how much care would you not take of it! And yet, diamonds bigger than the Kohinoor have been placed by God in your hands: they are your children. Alas! you do nothing to look after them. They need your love. The nature of the soul is love. Deprived of love, no child can grow in the right way. You must give them time. You must try to sow in their plastic minds, seeds of character, without which life can have no meaning or value. You must help them

to grow in the love and fear of God!”

I recall having read of a boy in France. He was sentenced to hard labour. He received the sentence calmly. Later, he shouted aloud, so that everyone in the court-room could hear “I have nothing against the judges, for they have sentenced me justly. And I have nothing against the guards, because they have done their duty. However, I can never forgive two persons in this court-room – my father and my mother. For, they paid no attention to my upbringing. They did not object when I visited cinema-houses, where scenes of crime are shown so vividly that they easily impress themselves on the imagination of children. They did not take care of the company in which I moved. And so, here I have grown, full of vice and crime. The fault is theirs, but I have to pay for it, by going to prison.”

A number of parents do not seem to realise their responsibilities towards children. It was William Penn who said “Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.”

The question arises: “How should parents raise their children?” By proper guidance and patient, loving discipline. Without discipline no art can be learnt and, most of all, the

art of living. Today, the cult of “self-expression” is abroad. I am told we have imported it from America. I hear the people say “Don’t restrain your children. Don’t discipline them. Let them express themselves freely.” But what “self” is it that seeks expression and defies all rules of discipline? Surely, it is not the higher Self of man. It is the lower self, the ego — the self of desires and unruly passions, of cravings and animal appetites. When man surrenders to the lower self, he behaves no better than does a brute beast.

I read a headline which appeared in an American newspaper: “School Gang Violence Near Epidemic: Vandalism, Murder, Arson, Burglary.” And the paper quoted a member of the Los Angeles Country Board of Supervisors as saying: “We are going to have to return to discipline. Without discipline in the home, we are not going to have it in the schools or in the streets. We must arouse public opinion for a change.” The paper also reported how three teenagers — aged fourteen, fifteen, and seventeen — had killed a woman and a man to steal from them three dollars and ten dollars respectively. India, beware!

Discipline is necessary. But discipline must not be confounded with suppression. There was a little boy who,

asked what his name was, answered, “Haresh Don’t!” Every time he wanted to do something, his parents said to him, “Haresh, don’t!” That is not true discipline. We must prepare our children by explaining to them the purpose of life and teach the rules and the discipline needed to reach life’s goals. Our mothers taught us through examples and precept and by telling us wonderful stories from the ancient scriptures, how life might be lived in the right way, by devoting our energies to the service of certain high ideals, the scriptural stories, learnt in the years of childhood and boyhood, leave an indelible impression upon young minds.

And discipline must be blended with love, so that the child has the assurance that he is not alone, that there is someone who cares for him, and to whom he can turn, at any time of the day or night.

May I, in this connection, be permitted to offer a few practical suggestions to parents desirous of bringing up their children in the right way? The suggestions are as follows:

(1) There is a difference between children and adults. Children live in the now: they are free from anxieties of the past and fear of the future. If a child is in need of something or wants an answer to a question, never say to him, “I

shall fulfil your need or answer your question tomorrow or at my leisure.” There is a story about a young man, the son of a famous writer, who was sent to jail and whom the judge admonished, saying, “You should be ashamed of yourself: your father is such a great man!” Without hesitation, the young man retorted: “It is true, my father is a great man. He is always busy with his writing work. Each time I went to him with a question, he said to me, “Not now, my child. I haven’t the time to answer your question. Come tomorrow!’”

(2) Every child is a human being, with a heart and a soul. Never let him feel unwanted. And never forget that the child is an individual, with his own personality and innate talents. Understand him and encourage the creative principle within him to express itself freely. Guide him in a healthy, constructive way by bringing out the best that is in him. Do not impose your will on him and say: “I am a doctor, so my son should become a doctor!”

(3) In your treatment towards children, do not discriminate. Do not let them feel that a particular child is your favourite. Children are very sensitive creatures.

(4) Keep your child very close to yourself, until he is atleast three years of age. He needs your affectionate touch.

It is a great blunder to hand over little children to ayahs or baby-sitters.

(5) It becomes sometimes very necessary to scold children. Whenever you do so, avoid being emotional. Let your words on such occasions be like whips of love. Explain the fault clearly to the child, and allow him to speak out, if he has anything to say.

(6) Even at a young age, children should be trained to attend to household chores. Let them cultivate reverence for manual work.

(7) Let children grow in a spirit of unselfishness by training them to share food with the starving ones. Sri Krishna says in the Gita: “He who cooks for himself alone, is a thief!” Before you eat your food, set apart a share for a hungry one – a man, a bird or an animal. Example is always a better teacher than precept.

(8) The home is a door to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of true Happiness. Let all the members of the family gather together, at an appointed time every day, at a prayer meeting — even if it be for ten to fifteen minutes. This will give a new tone to the home. At a prominent place in your home, keep a big, beautiful picture of some great one — Krishna or Rama. Buddha or Jesus, Zoroaster or Guru Nanak, Baha’u’llah or a saint or Saviour

of humanity — to whom you feel drawn. Whenever you or the children leave the house or enter it, bow down to the picture and offer a small prayer.

My beloved Master, Sadhu Vaswani, often said: “New India will be built not in the Assembly or Parliament, but in the home and the school.” Therefore, give to your children the right type of training in the home and to your students the right type of education in the school and the college. An urgent need of India, as it seems to me, is a new type of education which may integrate the character of the pupils through a proper development of the body and training of the will-power and the emotions, an education which may give a triple training of the head, the hand and the heart. The heart must not be ignored.

The problems that are before civilisation, today, will not be solved by the head alone. Illuminated hearts are needed. Current education has failed, because it has, at best, taught us to be literate. Literacy is not education. The alphabet may be the “alpha” of Education: let us not mistake it for the “Omega”. For, a literate person can be uneducated, even as an illiterate person can be highly educated. 

THE TEACHER SADHU VASWANI IS A FRIEND *

Sisters and Brothers of the teaching staff!

Today, I am asked to speak to you in English. And my first word is a word of thanks. That word comes from the bottom of my heart. I feel sincerely grateful to you for having so kindly called me here. You are associating me with a function which I value highly. And to me it is a joy that the teachers — sisters and brothers — are come together this evening in order to do honour to one who is worthy of all honour.

There is a little book which 1 love. It is named “God Calling”. God is “calling” us every hour, every moment. This little book I opened before I came to you, and I read the following beautiful words: “I lay my loving hands on you in blessing!” Am I wrong in thinking that at this moment God is laying His loving Hands of blessing on us all?

I read today a pretty little story – of a seeker of God: he goes from place to place in search of the swarga-loka,

the heaven world. After many weary wanderings, he finds himself standing at the gate of the swarga-loka. He sees there a gatekeeper, who asks: “Who are you?” “A teacher,” – is the answer. “Stay here, while I go in to report”. He comes back with the words: “The master — there is no place for teachers in the swarga-loka.”

Yes, so many teachers are vain: they parade their little learning: how can there be a place in the swarga-loka for him who lives in a world of vanity?

The teacher, sad at heart, retraces steps to the Earth! He is on the point of leaving the portals of Paradise, when a voice whispers in his ears: “O Teacher! The dust of dead words clings to thee. Wash thyself of this dust with the waters of silence!”

Contd. on page 34

*Being notes of an Address delivered on the occasion of a meeting held to felicitate Shri Chandiram B. Advani (Head Master, St. Mira’s High School), on his birthday.

Current education is dissatisfied with itself: and the dissatisfaction grows from more to more. As witnesses to this dissatisfaction we have student unrest in India and other countries of the world. Universities are being burnt, Vice-Chancellors are being gheraoed, teachers are being threatened and mishandled.

“Judge a tree by its fruits,” said the great teacher of Palestine. Judged by its fruits, current education has failed miserably. This education must go. A new type of education is needed — an education which should be related to life, real life. Education must not be merely academic or abstract; it must not aim at stuffing the student with information acquired from dead books or a set of sterile moralities and superficial values. True education should equip the student to cope adequately with life, with what lies ahead

The Spirit Of New Education

DADA J. P. VASWANI

of him so that he may become a worthy participant in the adventure of life.

Hence the need of teachers of the true type. Many of our teachers, I am afraid, are men of books when they should be men of life. The teacher, in ancient India, was rightly called an Acharya. The emphasis, in those days, was on life, not on books. The school or college was meant to be a centre for the training of Life.

Ever since the printing press was invented, books have become available in everincreasing numbers. With all the libraries of books accessible to the student of today he does not find it worthwhile to attend lectures which reiterate information supplied by books. Many of our teachers merely repeat in the classroom what is already told in the books. And there are students who,

in book-knowledge, excel their teachers. Little wonder students are becoming more and more dissatisfied with what the school and the college can offer them.

Students are no longer happy with the learning of books which have no relation to real life. Nor are they interested in examinations which elevate text-books to the status of scriptures. They want answers to the pressing problems of life — problems which confront them in their day-to-day existence. They are eager to find out ways by which the world may be changed into a better, nobler, happier place. For no apparent fault of theirs, they find themselves in a world of injustice and exploitation, of cruelty and cut-throat competition, of hypocrisy and cant, of poverty and pain. And to their deep regret they find that the so-called ‘elders’ take things for granted and do nothing to remedy the tragic situation.

For a new type of education there are some who turn to the State. And today, there is talk concerning the ‘nationalisation’ of education. For those of us who believe in the dignity and eternal worth of the individual, nothing can be more alarming. It must never be forgotten that the State exists for the individual not vice versa. First the individual,

then the State. But the thought seems to be growing in India and some other countries that the individual can have no meaning apart from the State, and that the life of the individual should be moulded as the State directs. This makes the State almighty and reduces the individual to a cipher. Such a scheme can lead only to disintegration and decay. Our young men and women should be taught to see through this false theory and to realise the sacredness of the individual. The individual is the basic unit, and the State and every other organisation must subserve the individual. It is individuals who have contributed to the richness of humanity in all spheres of life, including religion and philosophy, science and art.

We must be careful to point out that the sanctity of the individual means that every individual must respect every other individual, whatever be his race or religion or status in life. Our society being what it is, every individual depends on other individuals. No man is an island. No man can exist alone. We all are interdependent. No single individual can regard himself as more important than the rest. Worse than useless is that education which gives us a feeling of self-importance. And this is one of the great defects of current education;

it makes the educated man an egoist. The rishis, teachers of India in the long ago — when she was respected as a leader of the nations, a builder of civilisation — taught that true knowledge belongs to the humble. Vidya Dadati Vinayam. The truly educated man is never an egoist.

In those days, our educators — the rishis — believed that the student was not merely a brain on two legs; the student was, essentially, a spiritual being. Therefore, education must not be merely an intellectual process. True education must aim at giving a triple training — of the head, the heart and the hand. Current education with its emphasis on book-learning, does nothing to train the imagination and the will of the student. True education is that which educates the whole of the student, not merely a part of him.

Sadhu Vaswani believed profoundly that the one urgent need of India and the nations was a new type of education — “an education which would integrate the character of the pupils and prepare them to become servants of India and Humanity.” Such an education, he said, must be inspired and directed by men and women of light, illuminated souls.

A humble attempt is being made in St. Mira’s Educational Institutions to translate Sadhu Vaswani’s ideals into action. We are still very far from the goal: but the inspiration of the ideal is ever before us.

The number of schools and colleges and universities in India is multiplying. Graduates and holders of ‘doctorates’ are increasing. Knowledge has spread. Has the nation grown in freshness, vitality, strength? Have our youths become more appreciative of the deeper values which alone give a meaning and significance to life? Or do they feel bored, cut off from great ideals, singing in their hearts no song of sacrifice?

Sacrifice grows out of the heart. And so the heart needs to be unfolded. Current education lays emphasis on the development of the head and has, in some measure, sharpened the intellect. Our schools and colleges have produced a number of clever men; how many of them are unselfish? I am afraid, says Sadhu Vaswani, “Not a few of the educated are only educated egoists. Sharpening of the mind — yes! But more than that is needed liberation of the heart. Not a few of our intellectuals are selfish. Current education releases power but, oftener than not, it is abused. It will be used well

when the heart is awakened in sympathy for the poor, the weak, and the needy.”

Sadhu Vaswani’s hope is in the bands of students and youths filled with faith in the World-Will, the Divine Ruler of the Nations, and eager to serve the poor and broken ones. He asked the young (1) to strive after the ideal of sacrifice, not ambition; (2) to be simple, for in simplicity is strength : and the hope of a new humanity is

in a new simple civilization; (3) to learn to co-operate with all and not let differences in creed or political opinion stand in the way of solidarity; (4) to help in reconstruction of village life; and ( 5 ) to accept the Creative Ideal which regards humanity as one and service as the end of all knowledge.

In such bands of students and youths is still the hope of a broken India and a bleeding humanity.

The Teacher Is A Friend Contd. from page 16

And the story proceeds to tell us how the Teacher learns to listen to the words of Saints and he spends sometime every day in silence.

One day, as the teacher is in meditation, sitting in silence, with a pure aspiration that he may see the lotus-feet of the Lord, he hears the words: “The Teacher is a Friend! And if you would enter swarga-loka, breathe out this aspiration: “May I be a friend of all, friend of brother-teachers, friend of all pupils, friend of all men, all birds and beasts — friend of God’s creation!”

This aspiration awakes in him and he says: “May I be a friend of teachers and pupils, a friend of the poor and needy, of the sinner and the suffering one!” When, lo! And behold! Portals of Paradise are open: and the angels greet him, saying:

“Blessed among the mortals are you. Enter in and behold the Master!”

And I recall the words of Plato, who in one of his “Dialogues”, develops the thought that the secret of education is friendship.

And may the spirit of friendship work from more to more within the walls of the Mira Institution! Brotherteachers when you meet together, meet as friends, remembering the teaching of the ancient rishis, which was, also, teaching of Plato and which is the teaching of modern educationists “The secret of education is friendship!” May the benedictions of the Lord be on Shri Chandiram and his staff and all students of St. Mira’s Institution!

Ernest Hemingway, world traveller, received a letter in Cuba addressed simply: “To Ernest Hemingway — God Only Knows Where.” The sender got a reply very promptly. “You were so right.” Scribbled Hemingway. “God Knew!”

***

When Pierre arrived at summer camp, the children were asking each other, “What’s your name?” Most replied by turning down the necks of their sweaters to show the name tags sewn into them. Pierre’s mother had forgotten to observe the regulation, so for four weeks he was called “Pure Cotton.”

***

Watching his class take a true-false test, a teacher notices a young man flipping a coin before writing each answer. “What are you doing?” he asks the student.

“Taking the test,” the young man replies. “Heads is true and tails is false.”

The period ends, and as the teacher collects the papers, he sees the student frantically flipping the coin and staring at his exam paper. “And what are you doing now?” asks the teacher.

“Checking my answers.”

***

A woman was helping her teenage son with his maths homework. A week later he brought his exercise book home. “I’m sorry, Mum,” he sighed, “but you got zero.”

***

Two little boys were talking.

“My eighty year old grandfather gets up early morning to jog eight kilometres.”

“That’s fantastic! What does he do in the afternoon?”

“The last kilometer.”

Recipes For The Month

BAKED RAW BANANA SAMOSA

A unique and healthy twist on the beloved samosa. Raw bananas are particularly rich in vitamin B6 and C and are good for your heart. Switch the regular potato stuffing with raw banana mixed with flavourful spices for a delicious tea-time snack.

Ingredients:

Onion, finely chopped

100 gms

Ginger, chopped............................................. 5 gms

Curry powder ................................................. 5 gms

Fresh coriander, chopped 10 gms

Green chilli .................................................... 5 gms

Raw banana paste ..................................... 200 gms

Refined oil ..................................................... 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds ................................................ 5 gms

Phyllo sheets ...............................................4 sheets

Salt ..............................................................to taste

Method:

1. Heat the oil, crackle the mustard seeds.

2. Add onion, ginger, & garlic, sauté until its turn golden brown.

3. Mix with raw banana paste, add curry powder & chopped fresh coriander. Add seasoning.

4. Take a phyllo pastry, cut in to three strips.

5. Put 2 table spoon of mixture on a strip & fold over itself in to a triangle. Put all the samosas on a non-stick baking tray.

6. Bake for a 15 to 20 minute until golden brown. Serve hot.

FRESH CORN BHEL

Ingredients:

Corn - boiled ..................................................2 cups

Boiled potatoes-diced ½ cup

Sev .................................................................¼ cup

Onions-chopped fine .....................................½ cup

Coriander-chopped 2 tbsp

Lemon juice or to taste .................................... 2 tsp

Chutney .......................................................... 2 tbsp

For Chutney (blend together):

Coriander leaves- chopped 1 cup

Green chillies-chopped 1 tbsp

Garlic-peeled and chopped 1 tbsp

Tamarind paste 1 tbsp

Sugar 2 tsp

Salt 1 tsp

Chilli powder 1 tsp

Method:

1. Dilute the chutney with water, thin enough to mix well into the dry mixture.

2. Mix the corn, onions, potatoes, half the coriander, lemon juice and chutney.

3. Garnish with the sev and coriander and serve.

ALOO AND DAL TIKKI

Enjoy this healthy tikki recipe made with chana dal which boosts your immunity and increases muscle strength. You can opt to bake these tikkis instead of frying them to make a healthier snack.

Ingredients:

Mashed potatoes, boiled ............................ 500 gms

White bread ................................................. 3 slices

Salt and red chilli ........................................to taste

Garam masala

Cumin powder ............................................... ½ tsp

Coriander powder .......................................... ½ tsp

Chana dal (parboiled) ...................................½ cup

Green chilli, finely chopped

Lemon juice

Coriander

Method:

1. Crumble bread slices.

2. Add mashed potatoes, chana dal, coriander leaves, lemon juice and chilies.

3. Spice it up with cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt and few drops of oil.

4. Mix it well.

5. Shape into round flat patties and fry golden brown.

RIDDLES CHILDREN’S CORNER

1. What can you put in your pocket that would leave it empty?

2. I sometimes run, but cannot walk. You follow me around. What am I?

3. What can travel around the world without leaving its corner?

4. A girl fell off a 20-foot ladder. She wasn’t hurt. Why?

5. I am made of water, but I’m not wet. What am I?

6. I run around town all day and night, but never get tired. What am I?

7. What is as big as a hippo but weighs nothing at all?

8. You can hear me, but can’t see me, and I won’t answer unless spoken to. What am I?

9. You see me once in June, twice in November, but not at all in May. What am I?

10. What has 88 keys, but cannot open a single door?

11. Where can you find cities, towns, shops, and streets but no people?

12. I shave several times a day, but my beard stays exactly the same. How?

13. What keeps going up and down but never moves?

14. What month of the year has 28 days?

RIDDLES

15. What can you keep after giving it to someone?

16. Three doctors said that Bill was their brother, but Bill has no brothers. How?

1. All five sisters are busy. Ann is reading a book, Rose is cooking, Katy is playing chess, and Mary is doing the laundry. What is the fifth sister doing?

17. What can be caught, but not thrown?

2. A boy and an engineer were fishing. The boy is the son of the engineer, but the engineer is not the father of the boy. Then who is the engineer?

were Bill’s sisters, 17. A cold.

13. A staircase, 14. All of them!, 15. Your word, 16. The doctors

1. She’s playing chess, of course! 2. The engineer is the boy’s mother.

Riddles:

Airplane, 7. Sunscreen, 8. Cocktail, 9. Skydiving, 10. Sun

Crossword: 1. Parrot, 2. Watermelon, 3. Whale, 4. Bird, 5. Palm, 6.

ANSWERS:

Answer: 1. A hole, 2. Your nose, 3. A postage stamp, 4. She fell off the bottom step, 5. A cloud, 6. A road, 7. A hippo’s shadow, 8. An echo, 9. The letter e, 10. A piano, 11. A map, 12. I’m a barber!,

SIMPLE RULES OF HEALTH

Do any of these headache descriptions sound like you?

Tension Headaches: If you’ve ever had a headache, it’s probably been a tension headache. It feels like it covers your whole head with a dull, aching sensation. Although it doesn’t throb, your head, neck, forehead, scalp, and shoulder muscles often feel very tender or sensitive.

Cluster Headaches: Cluster headaches are the ones you never want to experience. They’re touted as being the most excruciating type of headache, characterized by severe burning and piercing behind or around one of your eyes. They may also be accompanied by flushing, redness, swelling, and sweating. Lasting, on average between 15 minutes and three hours, people with cluster headaches can experience many throughout the day.

Sinus Headaches: Usually, sinus headaches are triggered by a sinus infection or an allergic reaction. Unlike tension headaches, sinus ones are more localized around the sinus area and can spread to the front of your head.

Migraine Headaches: Surprisingly, migraine

headaches are often misdiagnosed as sinus headaches. People with this type of headache can experience an intense pulsing or throbbing within their head that lasts for days. Like cluster headaches, migraines make daily tasks near-impossible to complete (depending on their severity). People with migraine headaches usually feel them on one side of their head and are accompanied by light and sound sensitivity, as well as nausea and vomiting.

Other types of headaches can include: Hormone headaches that are linked to hormone imbalance (e.g., menstruation, birth control), Caffeine headaches which, after having too much, can affect your brain’s blood flow, Exertion headaches can be spurred on by (sudden) physical activity (e.g., weightlifting, running), Hypertension headaches brought on by high blood pressure, Rebound headaches linked to using too much medication and feels similar to a tension headache, Posttraumatic headaches which can develop after any type of head injury and can last up to a year (or become chronic)

FOUR TYPES OF HEADACHES AND THEIR CURE

FIVE SAFE NATURAL ALTERNATIVES TO EASE MIGRAINES

Feverfew: Feverfew is one of the oldest herbal remedies for migraines. You can make a tincture or eat it raw. The reason that Feverfew is able to easy migraines is a powerful chemical called parthenolide, which has been known to ease migraines. Feverfew can be purchased in tincture, tea or tablet form. However, it’s the best when used fresh.

Butterbur: Butterbur has been recently discovered to reduce the intensity of migraine headaches. It does so by reducing inflammation and stabilizing blood flow to the brain. It prevents spasms in the capillaries and stabilizes blood pressure. If you decide to try butterbur, make sure it’s labeled PA (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) free. This indicates that the liver toxic alkaloids normally in butterbur plants have been removed.

Ginger, Peppermint and Cayenne: This combination of herbs is known as the natural pain relieving trio. To make a herbal tea, mix the three herbs together. Mix together a pinch of cayenne pepper, a little piece of fresh ginger and a teaspoon of dried peppermint. Put the mixture in two cups of boiling water and let it steep for 20 minutes. Strain the herbs and add raw honey to taste.

Lavender Essential Oil: In 2012, for the first time, a placebo-controlled clinical trial confirmed that lavender essential oil aromatherapy is effective at relieving migraine headaches. Lavender essential oil has been known for centuries for its analgesic effect on migraine sufferers. Lavender helps reduce the inflammation that occurs in blood vessels during a migraine. Lavender essential oil possesses pain-killing, nerve calming, and sedative properties. Just make sure you’re using a pure essential oil.

Magnesium: Magnesium is known as the master mineral. It activates over 300 cellular metabolic processes in our body. It affects our nervous system, muscle tissue, and cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, many people in the world and especially America are magnesium deficient. One of the studies found that daily consumption of magnesium supplements reduced the frequency of migraines by 42 percent, compared to only about 16 percent in patients given a placebo pill. Magnesium relaxes arteries and muscles in the body, which helps to get rid of headaches and ease migraines. Magnesium oil can be sprayed or rubbed onto the skin wherever it’s comfortable.

— From Internet