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Langar: mealtime round the clock
Andrew
Zimmern
 Andrew
Zimmern who hosts the famous programme ‘Bizzare Foods’ on the Travel
Channel, recently traveled to
India
and partook of Langar at Bangla Sahib. Here is what he has to say
about the tradition of Langar on his blog
Food
and eating are a very strong element of each and every Indian
culture. However, the one thing that brings most people together
often becomes what keeps people apart here in
India.
In
other words, culture and religion in
India can visibly separate many Indians from each other, especially
when it comes to food. Some eat meat. Some won't even allow meat
inside their homes. Some fast as a way to be close to god, others
say fasting is the path to weakness and therefore for evil. However,
there is a place where all cultures, all religions, all walks of
life can sit side by side and share a meal and that is at the Langar
of the Guru Dwara or the kitchens of the Sikh temples.
Sikh culture promotes non-violence and vegetarianism. They are
strong believers in Karma, and attribute Karmic values to everything
they do, including the air they breathe, the water they use, the
light of the sun and moon they take in, and the food they eat. Sikhs
are considered the most egalitarian society in the world. At the
langars or kitchens anyone can volunteer to cook, and more
importantly anyone can eat for FREE. No one is ever turned away.
This is a community service.
Serving between 8000 and 9,000 visitors daily, with no division
between a lunch and dinner hour, it's always mealtime at the langar.
And everyone who enters here understands that this foodis an
offering from god; therefore, it is a place of community, and for
some a spiritual experience.
I
got to volunteer in the langar preparing the basic staples for the
community---Dal, Roti and vegetables-- then I dined with about 4000
of my newest friends. Amazing.
7
May,
2008
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