(Synopsis of a lecture by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj given in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, on January 9, 2010)

If a one doesn’t feel that God is present in a deity, he will only receive the consequence of worshipping a stone sculpture. If we merely think, “What a great deity! What great features! It’s wearing a lovely diamond necklace. It looks wonderfully alive.” These are only external qualities. They are all material or mayic. If your mind is attached to these, the consequence of this attachment will be material. On the other hand, if you lovingly feel God’s presence in the deity, then you will receive a divine consequence. Very, very few people have these kinds of devotional feelings. The majority just make some brief show of respect to a piece of stone.

If one were to form these devotional feelings, then how much bliss he could experience! But we don’t experience as much happiness from seeing the deity as we do from seeing our husband, wife, or child. If your loved one comes from England after ten years, and you go to the airport to see him, how excited you are! We don’t become this excited when we see God’s deity. So then how have we formed any devotional feelings for the deity? How then could we receive a divine consequence for that worship?

For this very reason we have gone from temple to temple in uncountable lifetimes to worship one deity after another. If you think you have devotional feelings, then ask yourself when you last went to the temple, how many tears did you shed, thinking, “Oh Krishna! When will I meet You?”

In all the temples around the world, food is served to the deities every day. The priest places the food before the deity, closes a curtain between himself and the deity, closes his eyes and rings a bell. If asked, “What are you doing?” He will say, “I am serving food to the Lord. He is blessing it. Be quiet!” Does he really believe what he is saying? Does he really believe that the Lord is eating? “Of course, everyone offers food like this.” Now he opens the curtain. Has anyone ever looked closely at the tray and wondered, “What did the Lord eat? Oh! He hasn’t eaten anything! It’s because of me. What a sinner I am!” Has any temple priest had these kinds of feelings? No, no one has. Our faith is the opposite. Our firm faith is that God will NOT come and eat what He is served. Then how is this ‘blessed food’? ‘Prasad’ or blessed food means the food that was left over from what was actually eaten.

Thus, you will benefit from deity worship when you feel God’s presence in the deity. You won’t benefit from mere deity worship. The Bhagwatam (11/27/12) states that there are ten different kinds of deities, made of different materials such as iron, gold, wood, stone and so on. If someone were to imbue such a deity with the feeling of God’s presence, he could become a great Saint.

If such feelings are not imbued in the deity, if instead a person says, “This deity performs miracles.” A deity doesn’t perform any miracles. It is made of stone. This is your own confusion. “But there’s a huge crowd over there! In one year they collect millions in offerings to the Lord!” This is just blind faith.

That same miraculous Lord is present everywhere, even in hearts of those demons who insulted Shri Krishna and Shri Ram hundreds of times. God is not more present in some places and less present in others. He is not greater in Vrindaban, Rameshwaram, or Badarikashram and lesser elsewhere. Such pilgrimage places should be visited with the feeling that they are God’s leela shthal – a place where God enacted His divine pastimes.

For example, so many people are in Rameshwaram just now. Are they lovingly visualising in their meditation that Lord Ram’s lotus feet actually touched that place, and it was there that with His own lotus hands He established the deity of Lord Shiva? Not at all. They are just making a show of respect by proclaiming, “Glory to Lord Shiva!” and moving on. With this kind of attitude how could anyone benefit from visiting a pilgrimage place? You are just deceiving yourself by proudly thinking, “I went to Rameshwaram!” Please note this – every place is equal, whether one is standing in Golok or hell. How is this so?

Prabhu vyapak sarvatra samana.

God is equally present everywhere. He is also present in a deity.

Prem te prakat hohin bhagavana.

But it is only our devotional love that makes God manifest through a deity in His true divine form so that we could see Him, speak with Him and He could then eat what we have prepared for Him.

(Continued in Part 3)

© Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat and Bhakti Bliss, 2009

Haven’t been into blogging since past few days.I really want to make it up to my dear blog and the readers.

So I was talking about Arambol.Yeah, this beach is quite different from its other counterparts in Goa.Apart from the serene view, the shacks along the beach are surrounded by SHIVA (Hindu god who apparently discovered marijuana in form of bhaang ) hymns and serve marijuana in various forms . The sand looked good, water was clean,some part of the beach was rocky as well Plus it had a superb natural lake very close to the beach. But when we set out to find the virgin lake, we discovered it wasn’t that close. On our way to the lake, we saw a small pool of water surrounded by lush green plants n trees,there we inquired about the whereabouts of the lake from the people sitting around that pool. Man…that was the lake.it was not at all like we had heard and imagined about .But anyways now we had to force ourselves to like it.We jumped in with the jeans on.It was quite a change from the salty water we had been accustomed to in Goa.We were done with enjoying in the lake and the sun was about to set. We watched the beautiful mergence of the sun and the sea, clicked some pics and were ready to leave.

We had started back for the stand where we had parked the bikes when this incident happened.All of us were damn hungry.But we couldn’t risk stopping and eating a full meal because we were running out of time and we had to return the bikes by 8 pm. So finally we all decided to have some snacks in the next shack which looked cozy and then leave.As we walked towards the shack, we saw an Indian oldie carrying a stone covered in sacred cloth on his head. A normal Indian like us would never be bothered  by seeing such a sight.But then a fair, tall,beautiful,long legged Russian chic (you know the format ) walked upto him.

“This stone Ma’am? It is the Shiva’s gift for me…for my dedication towards him!” LOL… Now who would even pay heed to this chicken-shit. But later we found out that some people do get strongly influenced by chicken shit

Actually the man i have been talking about in the story was not more than 50 but the fucker fooled 20-something chic.And it was nothing other than jealousy that made me call him oldie in the entire story!!If you look from his point of view, he was smarter than the whole generation of that chic!! 

In Bhagawat Puran, it is mentioned that until the beginning of Kaliyug, flesh was offered to Agni as nyvedyam (Prasad, food). It is also clear that Hindus, including Brahmans were nonvegetarians. All Kings indulged in hunting, including Dashrath, father of Lord Ram.

The yagam is a ritual, showing the way of life of Aryans. One such ritual was performed in our village in 1956, I think. One goat was killed by others, by suffocating it, by covering its mouth by hand. When it was almost dead, namboodiries took it and finished it. All other works like skinning it, removing intestines etc. were done by them. I felt disgusted.

A peace of meat was covered in butter and the namboodiries ate it.

How then, they became such strict vegetarians during Kaliyug?

I think it was the influence of Budha.

The First Prasad:

A Blessing for you...to choose or refuse

DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANS

WHY NO CULTURE EVER DID OR COULD EVER REVEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT HUMANS AS A SPECIES. THAT IS, AS RELATIVE TO ALL OTHER SPECIES OR BEINGS, ALSO AS RELATIVE TO THE DIVINE, GOD, THE ONE CONSCIOUSNESS.

There were always those of you, many from even the past, whose names and words you would know; these trailblazers into truth’s jungles, these gardeners of consciousness, brave, even foolhardy, deep-sea divers into the black waters of the Unapproved and Hidden of virtually all the numberless and diverse societies and cultures existing and transforming over the course of innumerable millennia, are even better known to us.

We thought it would help if in all their reports to you–strangely enough, among all those maddeningly different ways of life, and kinds of people, and uniquely lived lives—that the one and only constant you would find among them was the hole in their understanding of the Nature of All.

(to be continued)

Last week Anna from New Zealand took me to Munger Raj Mandir on Mathura road. Anna lived there for the first part of her visit to Vrindavan, and had really enjoyed the satsang of the Mahanta, BV Sadhu Maharaj. I first heard about Sadhu Maharaj from a sweet devotee named Tarun Govinda das, when his life partner took initiation from him, and got the name Govinda-priya dasi.

BV Sadhu Maharaj

Sadhu Maharaj has a bit of a unique and varied background. He was born in a family of Bihari Rajas, took diksha in Nityananda parivar, and sannyas in a line coming from Bhaktivedanta Svami Maharaj (ISKCON´s ¨Srila Prabhupad¨). I didn’t know much else about him, but somehow felt inspired to meet him and interview him for this blog. The result was suprising and completely unexpected. I wrote in my journal:

We meet Sadhu Maharaj after arati in the common room where his disciples gather to read and do kirtan together. He responds to our pranam with that warm cordiality he is known for. I ask him about himself and his guru, but he refers me to his website.

He asks who my Gurudev is. When I tell him I am initiated from Pathbari ashram, he beams. “My whole family was initiated from Pathbari,” he says.

His grandfather, Rajarshi Raja Raghunandan Prasad Singh of Mungher, was an eyewitness to the famous “Kukkurer Mahotsav” or feast of dogs. (Sadhu Maharaj´s grandfather told him that the preparations for the utsav went on for two days. Then at the exact time Dadamosai scheduled, he saw how the dogs showed up and sat politely in lines to take prasad). Due to the association of Sri Radharaman Charan Das Dev and Ramdas Babaji Maharaj, Raja Raghunandan became the first in his family lineage to convert to the religion of Sri Chaitanya.

Sadhu Maharaj’s father was a direct disciple of Ramdas Babaji. Babaji Maharaj used to come to Munger to do kirtan, so Sadhu Maharaj saw him several times throughout his childhood. He tells us about a particular incident which occurred when he was only five years old.

Sripad Ramdas Babaji Maharaj

“Ramdas Babaji used to come to our house to do kirtan. I saw him many times. I remember one time he was singing standing up with his hands folded like this (below the chest). There must have been fifty kirtaniyas singing with him. His songs came spontaneously from his heart, and a disciple was writing everything in a notebook. Two more disciples stood at his sides, waiting to catch him if he fainted in ecstasy. Tears were pouring out of his eyes. Not “drip…drip…drip…” like a normal person, but pouring out like a fountain. I was just a child… I thought, “What IS this?” I walked up to him and held out my cupped hands to catch his tears. When the tears filled my hands I put the water on my head as a blessing.”

“I saw ‘Didi’ also,” he says with a grin. I ask, “Do you mean Lalita Sakhi Ma?” He says, “Yes.

¨She was extremely powerful; only kripa… kripa… She was not just dressing like a sakhi, this was really her bhav. This is very high, not everybody can understand this. She got this bhav by the full mercy of Sri Gurudev.” A man next to me asks me the story of how Sakhi Ma got sakhi vesh, and I tell about her dance in Jagannath Mandir, and how she got the sari as Jagannath´s prasad. etc. Perhaps it’s best not to mention such things in public, but I feel compelled to mention that when I said the words, “Jagannath’s prasad” at that very moment someone came in with a big bag of Jagannath Dev’s Mahaprasad. I took it as a sign that Jagannath Dev wanted the story of Sakhi Ma’s sakhi-vesh-ashray to be told. (Soon after, I learned that my respected elder godbrothers Subrata Ji and Sakhicharan Ji had just collaborated on such an article, including details not previously available in the English language).

Sadhu Maharaj says that as far as sacred poetry and song goes, his parents preferred only to read Sri Guru Kripar Dan and Sadhak Kanthamala. “These songs of Sri Guru Kripar Dan are very rare,” he says. “They were not composed. They came from the heart of Ramdas Babaji as he was singing in bhav. Please do the seva of translating these books.¨

Thanks to Sadhu Maharaj for sharing this lovely katha with us.  Jai Nitai, Jai Gaur!

By IANS
October 27th, 2009

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The project is expected to decongest existing railway lines, catalyse industrial investments of around $50 billion (Rs.2.4 trillion) and create new jobs along the rail route.

The commitment was given by Hideaki Domichi, Japanese Ambassador to India.

India had last month approved a Rs.17,700-crore conditional loan from Japan to help build the project.

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I believe food brings people together and in case of Annakut (a mountain of food) at the Swaminarayan temple in Milpitas California, it brings together thousands of people! My friends and I have made it a tradition to visit this temple every year during it’s Diwali celebrations. We look forward to dressing up in Sarees and fine jewelry, wishing each other Sal Mubarak (Happy New Year), and enjoying the mela-like atmosphere together. The festive atmosphere lights up our faces with smiles and fills our hearts with a genuine feeling of goodwill towards all.

During Diwali, the amazing variety of foods and its tiered display  at this temple is nothing less than spectacular. From exotic desserts called mithai to basic food items such as vegetables and daals, every prasad that’s offered is a culmination of a devotee’s love and creativity.  The Annakut offers a great meeting place for people with similar cultural background and goes a long way in fostering a sense of community.

સાલ મુબારક!

शुभ दीपावली

Among Indians the very mention of the word Peda evokes good feelings. They are a symbol of celebration; be it any major festival, birth, marriage, or just any piece of good news. This milky fudge is a delight any time. In Gujarat, I didn’t meet a peda that I didn’t like. I miss them so much here in California. In most towns in Gujarat you will find a big Farsaan Dukaan (snack shop) with a variety of pedas each with a distinct flavor and taste. I always wondered how each variety differed in taste from the other because it seemed like they were all made with just milk and sugar as their ingredients.  Making pedas at home from scratch is a long and laborious process (you need to cook milk until the last drop of water is evaporated) so it’s quite common to buy khoya and make pedas at home. I haven’t been happy with the khoya available in the freezer sections of bay area stores and so had been trying different peda recipes that didn’t require khoya. I quite liked this recipe from my sister. It makes dozens of delicious pedas in no time.

I recommend that you use boora sugar (also called tagar) instead of regular sugar. Pedas come out tastier with it. See if your local Indian grocery store carries this sugar. I have heard that some do. If you don’t have boora sugar, just regular sugar.

2 cups Milk-mawa powder (Available in most Indian grocery stores).  2 good recommendations for milk powder are: Nido instant whole milk powder and nature’s full cream milk powder available at:

http://www.packitgourmet.com/Nido-Instant-Whole-Milk-Powder-p437.html

Fresh cream 1 cup (250 ml)
3/4 cup powdered sugar (preferably boora sugar)
3 table spoon warm milk
1/4 tea spoon saffron/kesar ( A big pinch)
1 tea spoon ghee or butter
1 tea spoon powdered cardamoms
A few pistachios (optional)
Makes approx. 18 pedas.

Preparation:
Warm  3 table spoons of milk until it is quite warm. Add crushed saffron and mix. Keep aside.

Method
1. In a 10-12 inch wide kadhai or non-stick pan, mix cream and milk powder and cook on medium heat until the mixture is semi-solid. This will take approx. 12-15 minutes. Just before removing add the Kesar/saffron milk and mix well.
2. Remove the mixture from heat and let it come to room temperature. (this will take about an hour)
3. Mix sugar, butter, and cardamom powder well into the mixture. Taste and see if you want more sugar.
4. Let the mixture cool down further for atleast about 30 minutes. (This is important)
4. Take about 2 table spoon of the mixture and form into 2 inch diameter balls. Press on top with your thumb. Or press the top with a coin-like object with a design. Here I have used a wheel that came off from a toy motorcycle!
5. Decorate with crushed pistachio pieces on top if you like.

It’s important that you let the mixture cool before adding the sugar. If you mix sugar when the mixture is still hot, the pedas will be be too soft and won’t hold shape.

It takes about 3-4 hours for the pedas to set well and taste best a day after they are made.

Boora Sugar (Tagar)
Boora sugar is sugar that is cooked in water until it is crystallized. Then it’s cooled until completely dry. Indian sweets especially laddus and pedas taste much better when made with boora sugar. Here is the recipe.

1. In a wide kadhai add 4 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water.
2. Keep the heat on medium and cook the sugar syrup until it becomes thick and transparent. This will take approximately 12-15 minutes.
3. Take a drop of the syrup and put it on a plate. If the sugar quickly sets into a ball with crystals on top, the syrup is ready.
4. Take the kadhai off the stove and keep stirring the syrup for about 3-4 minutes.
5. Let the syrup cool completely. (About 30 minutes)
6. Once the syrup has completely cooled, it will look like hard blocks of sugar but now it’s boora sugar. You can put the boora sugar in a food processor and whirl it for about 30 seconds to get a fine, free-flowing sugar.

Ganeshotsav 2009

 

  Last month we celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi. This is one of the most favorite festival in Western India. Particularly in Maharastra it has been celebrated on a very grand scale and with full enthusiasm. Ganesh Chaturthi is the most widely celebrated festival in Maharastra only after Diwali  & Dashera.

  “Ukadiche Modak” or Coconut-Jaggery Dumlings are considered to be  the most favorite food of lord Ganesha. I am taking this opportunity to explain the procedure I followed while making these during last month’s Ganesh Festival. I think though Ganesh Chaturthi is over but we can make these modaks for any kind of Pooja or on Sankashti Chaturthi which comes every month.

INGREDIENTS                        

Ukadiche Modak

Modak cover

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 1/2 teaspoon oil
• Salt to taste

 stuffing

• 1 and 1/2 cups freshly grated coconut
• 1 cup grated jaggery
• 1 teaspoon rice flour
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds or sooji/ rava
• 1/2 tea spoon cardamom powder

 Serving: we can make up to 25 modaks.

METHOD:

   Stuffing:

Mix the coconut and jaggery together in a vessel

Cook on medium heat till the two ingredients are mixed together.

Add the cardamom, roasted poppy seeds. Cook till the ingredients are properly mixed together.

When the mixture is ready, take it off the flame and keep it aside to cool.

   Dough for the Modak cover:

Bring  1 cup of water to boil, add the ghee, salt, oil and rice flour and stir well so that no lumps are remaining.

Cover the vessel for a few minutes.

Mix the dough properly while it is still hot so it will be very soft and nice. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Also, it should not be too dry. Once the dough is ready, divide it into portions and roll each one into a small ball.

  Modak Preparation:

Roll each ball into a circle of approximately 2-3 inch diameter.

 Place the circle in your hand and hold it in such a way that it assumes a cup shape.

 Place some of the filling in the centre of the circle.

 Make about 6-7 pinches around the edge of the dough. Bring them together and join them to form a peak. Your modak should now resemble a whole bulb of garlic.

 Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

 Steaming:

Apply some  ghee or oil to a flat sifter and keep the modaks on it.

Place the sifter into a steamer or pressure cooker (without the whistle) and steam them for about 15 minutes.

After steaming, put some ghee on the hot modaks. Serve them while they are still warm.

O que Sri Sri disse hoje

Índia (Centro Internacional Arte de Viver, Bangalore), 4 de setembro:

P. Milhões andam no caminho espiritual mas somente alguns atingem o destino. Eu tenho alguma chance de estar entre os poucos sortudos?

Sri Sri: Isto não é nada novo. Senhor Krishna diz no Bhagavad Geeta que dentre muitas pessoas no mundo, muito poucos andam no caminho. Do mesmo jeito que muitos lutam pelo posto de Primeiro Ministro mas apenas um é finalmente eleito. Da mesma forma, milhares desejam ser oficiais IPS¹, IAS². Todavia é melhor neste campo (espiritualidade) pois há possibilidade para qualquer um atingir o destino. Nos tempos de Buda, dez mil atingiram Mukti (liberação). Hoje milhões fazem sadhana (práticas espirituais) e vários atingirão. Algumas pessoas vão ao oceano para tomar ar fresco, outras para colher pérolas e outras removem o óleo do oceano. Nossa patrata (competência) decide o que nós alcançaremos. Nem um único passo no caminho certo será desperdiçado. Apenas levará você para frente. Mantenha sua visão centrada em você mesmo e não nos outros. Pergunte a si mesmo o que você quer e você encontrará bem-aventurança, paz e amor. Quando você vivencia dor no amor, você deseja liberação. Sem paz e amor, bem-aventurança não é completa. Bem-aventurança é da nossa natureza. Não há obstáculos em atingí-la.  Não pense se você tem perspectiva de alcançá-la. Se você quiser, acontecerá hoje ou amanhã.

P. Qual o segredo por trás da noção de “Dia do Julgamento Final” no cristianismo?

Sri Sri: O cristianismo diz que um dia do julgamento final virá. Neste dia, todos aqueles debaixo da terra, os corpos mortos se levantarão e serão perguntados sobre suas boas e más ações. De acordo com elas, eles serão enviados para o céu ou inferno.

O entendimento mudou do significado original devido ao tempo e várias interpretações. Hoje, o que se acredita e discute é que o “Dia do Julgamento Final” não é o que era originalmente. No lugar onde o cristianismo e o islamismo nascerem havia escassez de madeira. A terra era apenas pedras e montanhas. Nestes lugares, enterrar era uma alternativa melhor. Não era caro. Na Índia há muita madeira, então começou a tradição de queimar os corpos dos mortos.  Seja nas terras do Islã ou cristianismo, queimar os mortos não era possível. Então de acordo com o país e a época, as pessoas tem certos costumes.

A interpretação que as pessoas tem mantido é que o Dia do Julgamento Final os mortos se levantarão dos seus samadhi, mas não é isso. Na Bíblia, é dito “Não julgueis para não seres julgados.” Cristo pede que não julguemos (criticar) e deixar o julgamento apenas para Deus e um dia Ele olhará o julgamento. Na Índia, nós temos fé no carma, que significa que você terá que colher o resultado dos seus próprios atos. Os bons atos trarão alegria e os maus, infelicidade. Da mesma forma, no cristianismo, eles dizem para não julgar e que todos terão que carregar sua própria cruz.

P. Algumas vezes eu acho várias vikaras (faltas) em mim mesmo e penso que eu não mereço estar no caminho. O que devo fazer?

Sri Sri: Livre-se da culpa. Até agora você sofria por se sentir culpado e não sabia disto. Agora que você sabe, você não deve sofrer. Isto faz de você um buscador. Tantos derrubaram suas vikaras. Continue fazendo satsang, seva e entre em meditação profunda – isto te livrará de suas vikaras e seus velhos hábitos serão  esquecidos. Se você era completamente sem esperança, você nem teria tido a chance de vir para cá, no caminho do satsang. Você deve ter feito algo bom – direcione sua visão para o bem.

P. Há algo além do samadhi?

Sri Sri: Além do Samadhi há

Bodh Matra Shuddh Chaitanya Satta

(sensibilidade pura e inteligência). Uma sensibilidade que não é do interior nem do exterior é desenvolvida. Não inconsciência, mas uma consciência tão pura. Não faz diferença se os olhos estão abertos ou fechados. Tudo se parece igual.

P. O que é samadhi?

Sri Sri: Quando a mente está descansada e centrada, tem-se um vislumbre de samadhi. A experiência que você tem quando se deita após o Sudarshan Kriya.

Quando você sente – ‘Eu não sei onde estou, mas eu sou.’

P. Você tem dito que a forma de todo Deus é a imaginação do pintor. Então, como são mantra e japa relacionados a eles?

Sri Sri: No Templo Kamakshi em Kanchipuram, há um ídolo lindo.

Lá, você recebe prasad (oferenda sagrada) mas diz-se que você não colherá nenhum benefício até oferecer a Aroop Lakshmi (Deusa sem forma) que se localiza atrás do templo. De lá, você recebe outra oferenda. Isto tem um sentido muito profundo. É apenas um costume, mas tem os ensinamentos de Vedanta. Você é direcionado da forma para o amorfo. Você venera a forma e depois um Shaligram*. A mente é presa com a forma e então evolui para uma pedra redonda. Quando você deixa até ela, você evolui para o mantra.

Deus não está no céu em algum lugar, mas é vibração – é nossa consciência. Então, sentar-se em meditação é melhor forma de veneração.  Neste caso, até os mantras se rendem. Mantra é também de alguma forma similar a forma. Este processo é um estágio.

P. Qual o significado científico do Prasad?

Sri Sri: Prasad é o que quando recebido faz a mente prasana (bem-aventurada). Um santo de Karnataka escreveu que este tempo que nós recebemos é prasad, nosso corpo, respiração, mente, prana (energia vital) e bhav (emoções) tudo é prasad.

Qualquer coisa que temos nesta vida é prasad. ‘Aquilo com o qual eu divulguei é prasad e aquilo com o qual eu cobri a mim mesmo é também prasad. ’

* um pedra esférica, normalmente de cor preta.

(Do escritório de Sua Santidade Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)

NT: ¹ Serviço de Polícia da Índia

² Serviço Administrativo da Índia

© Fundação Arte de Viver

Godacha Sheera (shira) is a very famous sweet dish that originates from Maharashtra. It is a very common prasad, naivedyam (holy food offering) prepared during festivals, functions or a happy occasion. Satyanarayan pooja (religious observance or ritual followed by the hindus) always has Sheera as prasad.

It is made from Rava or semolina. Other common names in various parts of India are Upma, suji ka halva etc. These differ in tastes and variety from the Sheera.

Serves – 3

Ingredients –

Rava (thin semolina) – 1 cup
Ghee (clarified butter) – ¾ cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Milk – 1 cup
Saffron – 4-5 strands
Elaichi (green cardamom) – 1 tspn
Raisins, Cashewnuts – 2 tbspn
Banana (cut into small pieces) – 1 medium

Procedure –

• In a pan heat the ghee and add semolina. Roast it on a low flame till it turns golden in color. Meanwhile in another pan bring to boil the milk along with saffron.
• Add cashewnuts, raisins and banana to the semolina mixture and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
• Add sugar to the semolina mixture and stir briefly for 2 minutes.
• Add the saffron added milk to the semolina mixture. Add green cardamom and stir for 2 minutes. Cook it at a low flame for another 2 minutes with lid on, so the mixture thickens.
• Serve hot.

Tips –

Saffron, green cardamom, raisins, cashewnuts are known to add rich flavor and taste to Sheera. But incase not available, can be kept optional.
People who have a sweet tooth but are advised to control their sugar content can add jaggery (¾ cup) instead of sugar. This adds a natural brown color.

by Pushkar Raj Chandna for Chaahat, August 31, 2009.

“The directors (managers) of such companies, however, being managers of other people’s money than their own, it cannot well be expected that they should watch over it with the same anxious vigilance with which the partners in a private co-partnery frequently watch over their own… Negligence and profusion, therefore, must always prevail more or less in the management of the affairs of such a company.”
• Adam Smith - An Inquiry into “The Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations”, p.31.

Introduction

The Corporate Governance, has never ever, since the Satyam Episode, become such a household word. A confessional letter of 7th January 2009 from Mr. Ramalinga Raju, founder Chairman of Satyam, divulged the accounting scam of the order of US $ 1.6 billion, and shook the whole country with tremors felt throughout the globe. Mr. Ramalinga Raju can be credited as the only corporate fraudster to have admitted his misdemeanors – fudging of accounts, inflated revenues, non-existing profits, and the fraudulent bank deposits and audaciously sustaining it for seven long years. The Mr. Ramalinga Raju’s misdeeds, unfortunately had given negative publicity of India Inc. so far a positive story. The fraud has undermined the trust in the government, companies, and markets alike. In India, nobody had ever imagined anything to go wrong at Satyam, one of India’s best known IT companies, which ironically had received the Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance in 2008…(continue reading)

Ulhas Kashalkar était entouré de deux tempura, c’est-à-dire beaucoup de bruit pour rien. Le tempura est cet instrument infundibuliforme dont on se doit de pincer les cordes d’un air rêveur en ordre et en rythme aléatoires. A sa gauche, un harmonium (petit piano dont on doit activer le soufflet pour qu’il produise du son) ; à sa droite, un joueur de tablas très, très jovial.

Il semble que les chanteurs classiques suivent les mêmes précautions qu’un perchiste : on commence doucement, puis on accélère, en atteignant à chaque poussée d’adrénaline quelques centimètres/tons plus haut. Les indigènes semblent apprécier cette évolution exponentielle (spéciale dédicace à mon ami Carl « Les Mouillettes » Gauss). On marque son approbation d’un mouvement de tête semblable au signe de l’infini, voire d’un tapotement du majeur et de l’index sur la rotule, voire d’un léger meumeumement.

Note : Ulhas Kashalkar ressemble fortement au Sénateur Palpatine*.

Après 2h de concert, il me semblait naturel ne serait-ce que pour satisfaire ma petite vessie de quitter les lieux. Cependant la moitié du public restâ et se précipitâ sur les places libérées aux premiers rangs. C’est que la moitié de la soirée seulement était écoulée, et que le clou du spectacle était en train de trembloter en coulisse. Hariprasad Chaurasia est en effet atteint d’un début de Parkinson** qui lui ajoute un vibrato de toute beauté.

La musique elle-même à la flûte bansuri (en bois) est une improvisation à partir de raga simples. Ouhlà, pardon je m’écroule quelques instants, cette phrase était d’un ennui…

…

La musique ne l’est pas : le cerveau du solfégiste bigleux de base a un peu de mal avec le fait que mélodie = rythme, les tablas participant autant au chant que la flûte et vice versa. Hariprasad le petit coquin se permettait quelques incrustations jazz, et à chaque demi-ton inattendu la foule approuvait avec les deux mains.

Le programme peut se résumer ainsi : « on est entre copains. » Hariprasad demandait à la foule « So, enough? Or do you want to hear something else? Okay then what? Don’t fight, I’ll do both. » Son prétexte pour arrêter : « Okay see I’m a little hungry now and my hostel’s cook leaves in an hour… But if you want to hear more, you are all most welcome tomorrow morning. Where, I don’t know though. »

Je n’aurai qu’un commentaire du XXIe siècle : <3

*Ceci n’est pas un anachronisme ! Enfin, ça pourrait.

**OK, ceci est probablement un anachronisme.