Lunch at the Langar:
Exploring a Free Kitchen in Delhi
Sarah Rich, 28 Feb 07
The plates were not overflowing and the food was not colorful, but it was delicious, hot, salty, spicy and fresh; and the parade of dal and chapati continued until everyone had had their fill. More volunteers collected used plates from satiated diners and in a short time, the crowd began to disperse. There was no lingering over this meal; another round would soon be under way.
The Gurwara Bangla Sahib langara has been feeding Delhi residents since 1935. Day in and day out a factory of human hands churns out what one member of our group observed as a day’s peace of mind for hungry members of the community. “If you get your day’s meal,” he said, “you can relax. You can survive.” It’s not a matter of survival for everyone who eats there — in fact, most people with whom we shared lunch looked happy and healthy, and had probably come as members of the spiritual community. But it’s there for anyone who needs it, and in a city of 13 million (and rapidly growing), an open, organized, clean, reliable, and free food source couldn’t be more valuable. It’s a great testament to the stability of a well-organized grassroots effort. While countless hours pass in board rooms and over policy debates to establish government-subsidized and NGO programs for feeding the hungry, a crew of volunteers at Gurwara Bangla Sahib feeds thousands upon thousands of their neighbors with no intervention, no fuss, and no strings attached.
Langar (Punjabi: ਲੰਗਰ) is the term used in the Sikh religion for the free, vegetarian-only food served in a Gurdwara and eaten by everyone sitting as equals. The Sikh Langar or free kitchen was started by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak. It is designed to uphold the principle of equality between all people of the world regardless of religion, caste, color, creed, age, gender or social status. In addition to the ideals of equality, the tradition of Langar expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness and oneness of all humankind. “..the Light of one Universal God is in all hearts.” Click the following for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langar_%28Sikhism%29
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I first saw a documentary on this a few month ago and it impressed me very much. I am very much a believer in being a productive individual and helping yourself and not rely on hand outs. However there are often times when people have struggled and need help. Especially in poorer countries hunger is often a problem. Here in America we often talk about hunger but I think we often really don’t know real hunger. Not having three square meals and three snacks, is not hunger and missing a meal or two is not either. If anything I think we are a bit spoiled and especially when it comes to food.
Feeding thousands of people on vegetarian diet, like this story shows they do in India every day is amazing and inspiring.
Think about it some of the biggest and strongest animals eat nothing but grains. So the argument that in order to be big strong and healthy you must eat meat is really not substantiated by facts.
Just a little food for thought.
