Anger Facts # 3

While I was in India earlier this year, I was traveling with my mommy, hubby and baby (hereinafter referred to as "my family") from Goa to Bangalore. My family, who had been more organised than me, were booked on an earlier flight and my flight was scheduled to depart 45 minutes later than theirs. I was rather unhappy with myself - they would have to wait for me in Bangalore for almost an hour - how dumb of me to not book my tickets on time!

Anyhow, we reached the airport well in time and first checked in my family onto their flight. Once they were safely in the security area, I left for the other terminal from where I needed to check into my flight. I had just finished checking in my bags when I got a call from my husband... "Our flight is 4 hours delayed!" I was shocked! "What? But what about Meera? She will get so restless! We don't even have enough baby food to last her 4 hours!" My husband was resigned to the inevitable - they were already in the security area and there was no way they could come out - all they could do was accept the situation and wait!

Somehow, I (who am usually the first to resign to acceptance) was not convinced that this was how it was going to be. But my mind didn't seem to have any answers - "what in the world can I possibly do in this situation? I am in a different terminal, the security guards are not going to dream of letting me out of the airport to get to the other terminal since my baggage is checked in; Even if I do get to the other terminal, what in the world can the airline ground staff do now that my family has already gone through security check? Would there even be available seats in any flight leaving sooner??" The questions were endless and there was no solution in sight.

Despite these doubts and impossibilities, I found myself walking towards the exit gate of my terminal, with my boarding card and my hand baggage in hand... I paused at the exit and looked around for the security guards... there were none in sight! As if on an evening walk, I danced out of my terminal and marched into the other terminal - once again, unnoticed and unquestioned! I proceeded to the airline ground staff member who had checked in my family's luggage and (conveniently) forgotten to mention that the flight was 4 hours delayed. I was quite calm... I went up to him and said, "you just checked my family's baggage into a flight that is 4 hours delayed! Why didn't you tell us? Now my family with my baby are in the security area with no extra food for the baby. This is not acceptable." The gentleman was totally unshaken: "The flight departure time is mentioned on your boarding card - you should have read it!" I was now completely amazed at the man's indifference. I walked away convinced that talking to him was like talking to a stone wall (or at best similar to writing a complaint that would end up in the bin without any action being attempted on it.)

Interestingly, my mind was still calm, but something inside me kept nudging me to continue "doing" something. I saw another ground staff member (this time a very busy looking lady with a huge walky-talky in her hand). Without pausing to think what I should say to her, I walked towards her. As soon as she looked at me, I said "where can I lodge a complaint against your airline?" Her eyes became big and concerned and she said "why madam, what happened?" I calmly repeated the exact words I had said to the previous ground staff member. This time, the reaction was entirely unexpected... She said "Madam, how many people are there inside?" I said "My husband, baby and my mom." What happened next, I have no idea. She started running around in all directions and after 5 minutes came back to me and said "another flight of ours is leaving for Bangalore in 5 minutes. Please ask your husband to come out with the baby and we will re-check their baggage." I immediately said, "what about my mom? She is 70 years old. I am not going to let her wait for 4 hours and travel alone!" The lady looked horrified for a second and said, "madam, we have only 2 seats." I didn't know what to say (I should have said, 'yes, that is enough because my baby will anyway not need a seat! She is only 13 months old!') But this didn't occur to me at the time. However, without waiting for me to speak, the lady disappeared again and came back in 2 minutes yelling, "madam, please ask them all to come out at once. We have seats for everyone!"

I called my husband and he, along with my mom and Meera, looking completely confused, came out of the security area and were immediately made to re-check their luggage, get new boarding passes and escorted to the boarding gate of the other flight!" My husband kept asking: "What happened? What did you do? How is this happening?" :D All I could say is, "I have no idea!" :D

In the mean time, I had only 10 minutes left to board my flight! I went running out of the terminal (once again, the security guards were apparently on an extended tea break!), running into my terminal, waltzing through security check and reaching my boarding gate just as the last few people were boarding.

And so it happened... despite my tardiness (in not booking my flight tickets on time), I reached Bangalore (only) 5 minutes after the rest of my family :)

Sri Sri says "When you are meditating, you don't need to show aggression. Things will happen without need of aggression for the one who meditates." :)

Today's aggression free (effortless) recipe: North-South Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 cups chickpeas (the recipe tastes MUCH better if you use small black chickpeas, called Kala Chana, rather than regular chickpeas, called Kabuli chana - See picture below) - soaked in 4-5 times the quantity of water for 12 to 24 hours.

1 cup coconut milk
8-10 fresh curry leaves - chopped into 2 or 3 pieces each
2/3 tsp cumin seeds
1/3 or 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (Or 1 green chili - chopped)
1/2 tsp sugar or 1 tsp grated jaggery (Gur)
1.5 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp curcuma (Turmeric) powder
1 tablespoon ghee or cooking oil
Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas till soft. Drain most of the water (leave about 1/2 cup of water in). Add the 1/2 the salt and grated ginger mix well and set aside in a closed container (or in the pressure cooker itself).

In a large frying pan, heat the ghee/oil. Add the cumin seeds. Once the seeds start sizzling a little, reduce the heat to minimum and add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder and jaggery and stir well (make sure the spices don't burn - you know they are burnt if a heavyish smoke starts coming out of the pan!). Add the curry leaves, stir again. Add the coconut milk and the remaining salt and grated ginger. When the coconut milk starts simmering (this will be soon!) add the chickpeas-ginger-salt mix and stir well. Place the lid on the pan and let cook on low heat for about 5-6 minutes. Pour into a serving dish, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve immediately with masala-raisin rice or fresh rotis. (Recipe coming soon!)

"How fortunate we are to perceive the infinity within us..." :)

Today is Guru Purnima. Purnima means "Full Moon" and Guru Poornima is the full moon dedicated to remembering all our teachers, especially the Satguru - one who gives us knowledge about the Self. Today, with a heart full of love and gratitude for my Guru, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, I re-post here what Sri Sri says about Guru Purnima and its significance. (Taken from here)

“The Guru principle is so vital in life. There is an element of the guru in every human being. That wisdom in each one has to be invoked and awakened. When this element is awakened, misery in life disappears....

The word guru is used today to mean expertise – like an expert in business management. Guru means enormous, the biggest. Of course, expertise is a part of it. There is perfection in everything. There is that depth.

In our consciousness, wisdom comes to life when the guru tattva comes to life. When we have no desires of our own, then the guru tattva dawns in our life. Do you ever wish to do something for someone without expecting anything from them? Then you have played the role of the guru. The mother is the first guru. Then there are the teachers – the veena (musical instrument) teacher and so on. The Satguru gives you knowledge of the truth, the ultimate reality, spiritual knowledge.

On Guru Purnima, one must reflect, “Where was I before I got this knowledge? Where am I now?” When you see the contrast of where you were without this knowledge, then gratitude wells up.

This full moon is also called Vyasa Purnima. Vyasa categorized the entire lore of wisdom into the 4 vedas, the Upanishads, the Upavedas, the 27 Smritis, 27 Upasmritis – a huge lore of knowledge pertaining to every aspect of life from Ayurveda to architecture to alchemy to medicine. This full moon is named after him.

This day we remember the contribution of all those who have been on this planet for the wellbeing of the human race. We remember what they have done. We see the contrast (brought about by spiritual knowledge) in our lives and feel grateful.

How fortunate you are to perceive the infinity within you - in this finite framework of the body-mind complex. The body and mind are finite but the expression of the spirit is infinity.

For the Seeker, the New Year is from Guru Purnima to Guru Purnima. When it is half way for the rest of the world, we celebrate one whole year on the spiritual path. One year towards the Divine manifestation in our life. One year towards feeling the oneness and seeing the world through the eyes of the guru. That is the guiding star for us. Let me do that which a guru, a wise person would have done in this situation. A wise person would never react. He would respond. You will learn by putting yourself in that position (of the guru or wise person) again and again - by attempting infinite patience, immense intelligence, complete compassion and unblemished joy.

Nobody knows when the tradition started. Billions of years before, on this earth, so many sages and rishis have been here and so many (will come) in the future too. We thank of all those in the past, present and the future for the continuation of wisdom on this dear planet. Without wisdom it is not living, only existing. Life begins with wisdom.

This Guru Purnima think about all the blessings that you have received and feel grateful."


Today's Pure and Grateful Recipe: Ghee (Clarified butter)

Ghee is of great significance in an Ayurvedic diet. Ghee is said to optimize the digestive fire and aid in proper digestion of food. A spoonfull of ghee can thus be added on top of the food that you are eating at any meal - it adds to the taste and helps the digestive process. It is also said to have a purifying effect on the food and the body.

Ingredient

As much butter (unsalted is better) as you like (at least 250 grams is needed to make a good quantity of ghee)

Method

In a heavy bottomed pan, on high heat, let the butter melt. Reduce the heat to medium and let the butter keep cooking till you can see the bottom of the pan through the butter. The butter will froth a lot - once the froth settles a little, you can remove the froth floating on top with a spoon and continue to let the butter cook. When the butter froths up a second time, turn off the heat and skim off the froth from on top. You will see a deep brown sediment at the bottom of the pan - thats the sign that the ghee is ready. :) Let it cool for 10-15 minutes (but don't let it solidify!), transfer after straining, into a completely clean and dry glass jar. Store in tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.