Holoprosencephaly: An Adventure in the Langar

An essential part of any Indian Sikh Temple is the Langar, the free kitchen. Anyone, even a person from a different religion, is welcomed to partake in the food of the kitchen.

The tradition of the Langar expresses the ideals of equality, sharing, and the oneness of all humankind. The practice of serving food to all was started with Guru Nanak’s Sikhs at Kartarpur, in India in the fourteenth century. With money given by his father, Guru Nanak started giving free meals to wandering Holy Men of India. Later on, he served food to whoever who came to him who was hungry. The practice was formally established when the beloved Guru founded Sikhism. It continues up to this day.

In the langar, a strict tradition of preparing the food is well-practiced. The cooks must wash their hands before preparing the food, and no tasting during cooking is allowed. Cooks with communicable diseases are not allowed to participate in the cooking.

The food in the langar is always vegetarian, in adherence to the Sikh religion's belief of vegetarianism. Killing of animals is strictly forbidden in Sikhism. Nevertheless, the langar has managed to make varieties of food that are tasteful even if without meat. As usual with the Indian taste, many of the foods are spicy.

The langar is a self-service kitchen. However, there are volunteers around who serve to refill your plates with food, and cups with water, milk or tea. One must wash hands before getting food from the serving pots. The steel plates, cups and utensils are covered with cloth to protect against any dirt. After the meal, the plates and utensils are placed on the wash basin. Volunteers also do the washing. I have noticed that many Sikhs volunteer to serve in the washing of plates and utensils. They do it quietly and afterwards place the clean plates back to the serving area.

I am a meat-eater, and to be honest, have not enjoyed eating a lot of vegetables. But for a few hours observing and photographing in the langar I became hungry. I have repeatedly been invited by my Sikh hosts to partake in the meal. But I do not usually eat strange foods--and all the foods in the langar looked strange to me. Nevertheless, I didn't want to embarass my hosts, and so I decided to try.

I took some roti, yoghurt, achar, sadhi and mung dahl (bean soup or simply munggo in Tagalog). Well, at least, I'm familiar with the yoghurt and the munggo. But the roti, sadhi and the achar are quite unfamiliar to me. The roti is an unleavened and unsweetened pita bread, and it is supposed to take the place of rice.The achar is a concoction of chilis, carrots, and curries. The sadhi is a stew of potatoes, green peas and chilis.

To my surprise, the combination of roti, sadhi achar, yoghurt and munggo is quite delicious. I really didn't expect it to be so, being mostly vegetables. Only, the achar is little too spicy to my taste so I needed to drink a glass of water. Sensing my need, a volunteer immediately gave me a steel cup and poured cold water into it.

After the meal, everyone was served tea or milk, and a dessert--a laddu, a sweet ball of milk, yellow lentils, and sugar. It was very delicious and filling that I even asked for a second helping. The volunteer told me to eat as much as I want. In fact, I found that there is no food limit in the langar. The cooks are always cooking or baking. Anyone can eat until he or she is full. There is always food in the langar.

After my meal, I noticed some Filipino street children coming inside the langar. The volunteers immediately gave them food and bread. I was overwhelmed by the sight that I thought if all religions are like Sikhism, there will no longer be hunger in this world.

My whole experience in the langar is very fascinating. I now understand that the langar is not only a free kitchen, but an actual demonstration of Sikhisms's love, goodwill, and equality for all.