So today is the Cheti Chand..Happy New Year to Sindhis!

Cheti Chand A new year for Sindhis, to be celebrated with much pomp and show,

It’s the day to get kharchi from elders and to wear new clothes and go to visit relatives and get more kharchi.

 In the evening to go to some entertainment show where they will sing those same songs that they have brought from Sindh (with little alteration here and there). Those same song, sung long ago by Ram Punwani and Bhagwanti Navani etc. songs like Ek soun jo rupeeo allah ree allah. and songs like ‘Lal ja jati chau Julelal Bera hi paar, Sadai Sahukar’ (now u know how Sindhis get rich? If you chant Sadai Sahukar in front of Lal Sahi, and keep such positive energies all the time and then naturally you will get rich na? JuleLal always listen to people who are hard working and hold such positive energies. Lage raho …lage raho.. Sadai Sahukar. JULELAL!

 Okay this much information is enough for a child of seven year old to understand. But I need to know more about what else do they do? So I asked my sister to give me some insight.

She asked me to accompany her to Julelal mandir and she promised me lunch (good enough reason to go, free lunch? Why not! I went to Lal Sahiji’s mandir with her. The mandir was full of Sindhi ladies in late 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. There were few children (probably the grand children) but the youngsters were not there at all. Array Baba, who will go to these Mandirs after, say next 20 years from now? Our culture is dying na! With youngster, who are not in the least interested? ‘.Lal Sahi. Are You Listening? Days are numbered…..no youngsters visiting you? Eh?’

 Anyways we reached mandir and there were some ladies making the dough of flour and shaping it into diya (lamp), (each diya was stuffed with cloves and cardamom) and another dough mould (decorated with silver vark, dry fruits like almonds and cashew nuts) to hold the misri (rock sugar), they were placed in thali (a big steel plate) and given it to those who did not bring any from their home. But my sister believes in doing everything herself, so she had come prepared bringing with her all the things in her potli (bag). She only borrowed the thali from the mandir and one by one she removed from her potli and started placing items into the thali , things like diya (Filling it with pure Ghee and cotton wick), miisri, rice, fruit, biscuit and flowers, vermillion, and few coins. She then stood in a long queue to present this thali to the guryani (a woman priest) who would light the lamp, read the prayers and bless her thali. After the prayers she placed the thali (now, after prayers, this thali is called Barano Sahib) on her head and turned 360 degrees (three times) before she went outside the mandir and place the thali in front of huge picture of JuleLal (which had many more similar thalis) for the final blessing. She started praying once more (her own method this time) putting rice in her own thali, plus in other thalis and staring at the picture then shutting her eyes again.

 I meekly asked where the free lunch is. Eh? I followed the glance of my sister which rested on the long queue, waiting in line to get the food. Queues like you see at refugee camps…or those queues that you see in movies where the prisoners wait for food. Are we supposed to stand in this queue? I remembered that dialogue in some movie where protagonist says ‘hum judar khare ho jate hai.. vahi se line suroo hoti hai….’ I wondered if I could use that dialogue here…and cut this long queue…but alas!….with my sister around, nothing will work.. Disciple comes first!

So I quietly stand behind her and wait for Prasad. Delicious Prasad! Indeed! Peas pulau, bhee aloo. Salad. Puri, achar, fried bhajiysa, sweet rice, boiled channa, and sayoo and to drown it all with rose sherbet. (all fattening….my nutrition analyst would not approve of this meal.) Never mind, its new year na! …Lal ja Jati chau JULELAL bera hi Paar Sadai sahukar! Now I am getting some idea about this Cheti Chand According to the Hindu calendar,

Cheti Chand is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month known as Chet in Sindhi. Hence it is known as CHET-I-CHAND The Sindhi community celebrates the festival of Cheti Chand in honour of the birth of Ishtadeva Uderolal, popularly known as Jhulelal, the Patron Saint of the Sindhis. This day is considered to be very auspicious and is celebrated with pompous and gaiety. On this day, people worship water – the elixir of life. Followers of Jhulelal observe Chaliho Sahab. It suggests that for forty long days and nights they underwent rituals and vigil on the bank of Sindhu. They did not shave, nor did they wear new clothes or shoes. They did not use soap or oil or any opulent thing. They just washed their clothes, dried them and wore them again. In the evening, they worshipped God Varun, sang songs in his praise and prayed for their solace and salvation. After 40 days of Chaaliho, the followers of Jhulelal celebrate the occasion with festivity as 'Thanks Giving Day' even till today. A lamp is lit on a bronze plate, and this ritual is called Jyot Jagan. One lamp, akshaoil and vermillion are kept on this plate . A procession is taken out to the river front or sea shore. Lakhs of people participate in the long processions taken out in different cities, with colourful floats, depicting the life of the Saint and other aspects of Sindhi culture. The Sindhi folk dance called "Chhej" is performed with the procession. People go to a river or a lake and Bahrano Saheb is immersed in the water along with rice and sugar prasad called "Akho". It is customary to sing Lal Sain's Panjras and Palav to seek his grace. New ventures are started on this day. After the worship of Jhulelal, the Sindhi community display and present their rich culture through dance, drama, music and folk arts that are preserved and passed on to…next generation..?

  If only, our new generation can show some interest, then maybe. the lamp will continue to be lit…….!

Oops! India lost the first game! Storm in the cup!

I am not a cricket fan and therefore am not aware how our Indian team plays. Before the world cup started, I had asked everybody whether they played well and every body was hopeful that they will bring the world cup this time. Yesterday when Indian team played with Sri Lanka and lost, I saw the disappointment on my friend's faces. Every body is making a mockery of India's 'cash-rich cricketers' and the cricketing authorities for making cricket 'a product, not sport.' For the cricket lovers in India, the four favorite teams they would have liked to watch in the semi-finals matches were India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Now, they are not so sure.

Salt-our tasty enemy

We have trained our tongue to eat tasty food. We find food without salt as tasteless and bland. We tend to eat overdose of salt not realizing how much it is harming us. Have we realized that by reducing salt intake we could actually lower average blood pressure, which in turn would help cut heart disease? Salt in fact performs its ‘flavoring’ by inflaming and irritating taste buds on the tongue. Instead of salt, we can use substitute condiments such as fresh lime, mango, tamarind, cocum, celery or sea weeds. Fresh raw fruits and veggies are also full of appeasing flavors and aromas. They tickle and provoke our taste buds without any need for additional condiments like salt. When salt gets into our blood stream, it is eliminated with great difficulty. Much of it is thrown out from our body through our skin. Instead of utilizing the energy for important body functions, our vital energy is diverted in throwing out the excess of salt from our body. Ill health is thus caused by placing an extra burden on the body to throw out the salt. Salt has no nutritional value. It is only a culturally conditioned habit. It is a habit that contributes towards many diseases like hypertension, obesity, kidney stones and even cancer. We must decide now whether we want a good health or a tasty meal.

Understanding Natural Body Cycle

So finally I am beginning to understand how our body works. It is very important to understand our own body so that we can take care. We ought to know that we are abusing our body by eating wrong food. Our body requires right food to build up its energy. And it also needs time to utilize these fuels. But what do we do?…we are eating continuously, just eating and eating and not giving enough time to our body to digest the food. Our body needs time to balance, rebuild and eliminate constantly and it has its own rhythm. When we eat, all our food goes to the food reservoir. From noon to 8.00p.m, is the time to eat and put all the food into our food reservoir. This is the time when our body can efficiently break the food into its nutrients. We can eat whatever we like, but we must eat the raw vegetables and sprouts with our food. Salads are very important because they produce enzymes that are necessary for digesting the food. If we do not produce enough enzymes, then the enzymes from other organ rush to help with the digestion. From 8.00p.m to 4.00 a.m. is the time when our body is doing all the building and repair work. It takes all the nutrients from the food reservoir and distributes to all parts of the body to build new cells and tissues. This is the time to rest and sleep and not eat, because if we eat at these odd hours then we are interfering in absorption and assimilation process and proper digestion of food cannot take place. From 4.00am to 12noon is the time when our body is getting rid of all its waste products and debris. All that our body does not require is thrown out at this time. That is why it is suggested not to eat anything in the morning except fruits. Fruits are used by our body to cleanse the system. That is why fruits are important because eating only fruits/juices during elimination cycle, gives our body time and energy to clean its toxins. Living and eating according to these eight hour cycles is the key method to tune in to the natural harmonious rhythm of the body. This is the secret to losing weight, feeling energetic, getting rid of illness and staying fit in the long run.

Eating the right food

Last Saturday, I attended a nutrition program. We were given a cooking demonstration on cooking food without oil. No oil was used in any cooking. She cooked about 6 dishes in two hours but none contained even a drop of oil. And believe me when I say that she did not use the non-stick pan. She said it was toxic. Instead of oil she was rubbing the tava with onion when roasting the patties and for cooking she was using ground peanuts or coconut. Instead of salt she advised in using rock salt or black salt and instead of sugar, she advised to use gur or dates. She said that we should avoid boiling or frying food, it is best to steam the veggies. She had made tomato puree by steaming the tomatoes and blending them with their skin on. Following of the dishes that she made during our session: Tomato curry Potato patties with ragda in coconut gravy Halved capsicum was stuffed with boiled and grated potato and steamed Steamed potato was rolled with spinach leaves and steamed Moong dhal was soaked and pounded into paste and mixed with spices and steamed and then garnished with curry patta and hing. For sweet dish, a kheer was made of unpolished rice, which was steamed ad mashed and boiled with jaggery syrup and cocnut milk. Cardamom and nuts were added to it. There was a stress on using food in its natural form. Our body can get all the nutrients from raw veggies, fruits, nits and sprouts. Rest everything that we eat like fried stuff, biscuits and savories between meals, is extra work for our body. Tinned or canned food is the fragmented food and does not contain all the nutrients since most of them are destroyed during fragmentation process. A high energy food is the food that provides carbohydrates/glucose and requires little or no digestion and introduces no toxins that would require elimination or extra energy expedition. Whenever we eat, the new food is added to our common reservoir which has stored nutrients from previous meals. The cells in our body, extract the nutrients from this common reservoir, and convert it into energy and distribute it to different parts of the body. The residue is either eliminated or get stored as fat that you see on your hips or on your stomach. By eating the correct food, the balance is maintained and our body does not have to over work to maintain the harmony and balance between our intake and the ends of the body. If the food is not right, then the enzymes from other organs such as liver, kidney, etc, have to rush to help with the digestion. As the result lot of energy is wasted in digestion of the food and other organs are not able to perform their own function. Some of the most important factors for consideration of selecting food for optimal health are that they should be easy to masticate, can be easily digested and absorbed by the body and leaves an alkaline ash after metabolism.