The Lord's Langar

As Christians, we are called to show unconditional hospitality to all the human family. We are told to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick and comfort the broken-hearted. All too often though, we forget or ignore our call because of the inconveniences that arise from living out this sacred mission. When we see evidence of people living out God’s message of unconditional hospitality, it can be a powerful moment of reawakening. My faith journey has been peppered with these moments of epiphany, the most recent being my visit to the Sri Harmander Sahib—the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The temple is, in itself, breathtakingly beautiful, but what touched me was the unconditional hospitality of the Sikhs. Just as with Christianity, absolute kindness and generosity towards others is sacred in Sikhism, and at the Golden Temple, Sikh devotees carry out this mission every day.
Accommodation at the Golden Temple is free. Massive buildings that house thousands of beds are always open to pilgrims and travelers who wish to stay, regardless of religion or nationality. The rooms are kept clean and as comfortable as possible by an army of volunteers from the community. Unlike other temples, mosques and churches in India, visitors can see the Sri Harmander Sahib free of cost. There is no charge to visit the temple, no charge for a headscarf and no charge for shoe service (shoes and uncovered heads are not allowed in the temple proper). Everyone is welcome.

While we were at the Golden Temple, we experienced langar, the traditional Sikh meal that is shared with the whole Earthen community, regardless of race, religion, caste, sex or nationality. Every Sikh temple (gurdwara) serves langar, but the Sri Harmandar Sahib easily serves the most people, over 70,000 a day! Because Sikhism rose out of an opposition to the caste system, it is very important to Sikhs that everyone at langar eats the same food in the same place at the same time. Langar is also a means of feeding the poor; anyone can partake of langar at any time. We gathered our plates and followed the crowd into a large room that could easily sit 1000, and probably did. We sat down and servers came around, ladling daal (fried pulses in curry), channa masala (chickpea curry), sweet rice and chappatti onto our plates. We were allowed to eat our fill, the servers coming by often to ask if we wanted more of anything. After we had eaten, we took our plates out and deposited them in baskets, where they were immediately picked up and washed by an army of volunteers. To cook, serve, or help wash dishes for langar is considered a sacred duty among the Sikhs.
As I ate, I thought about Paul’s idea of the Lord's Supper. The Lord’s Supper, Paul says, is based on equality and fraternity, it is a meal shared among the human family. Class, creed, gender, none of these divisions should be preserved during this holy meal—it is a act of radical equality. I felt that sense of radical equality when I ate langar, in a way that I had not experienced before. Thousands of people, from all over the world, were sharing one meal side by side. Those who provided the meal did so without payment, without expecting any reward. As I was sharing langar with hundreds of people from every walk of life, I felt a holiness that I have, in the past, associated with sharing the Lord’s Supper. Although there was no ceremonial breaking of the bread, I felt the Spirit’s presence. It was amazing to find a familiar holiness in a place so foreign.

Incredible India!

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."

Mark Twain

This past month, the India YAVs went on a tour of North India to better understand the diversity and the rich cultural heritage of the country. Every region, every state of India is different, bound together only by the legacy of British colonial rule. Kerala is in no way a fair representation of all India, just as Texas is not a fair representation of the other 49 United States. Within many states, there exist many different peoples, religions and languages. Even though we traveled for a month around North India, we saw only a small part of the country. We tried to see as much as we could, but knew that we were missing a lot.

On this journey I visited 8 Indian states, spent about 140 hours (almost 6 full days) on different trains, walked countless miles and heard six different languages. There is no way I could do justice to everything that I saw or all the experiences that I had in just one blog post, so here is a summary of my 1 month tour:

• Agra: I saw the sun rise and set on the Taj Mahal and explored the ruins of the beautiful Agra fort. I learned that with the right people and the right reading material, a 40-hour train ride can actually be fun.
• Jaipur: I climbed up to a small temple famous for the monkeys that congregate at sunset and learned how to charm a cobra (the trick is to remove the teeth). While trying to eat as cheaply as possible, I became acquainted with the delicious Dal Makhani (pulses slow simmered in ghee).
• Jaiselmer: While staying in the city that must have been the inspiration for Agraba (in Disney’s Aladdin), I marveled at the intricate carvings that covered several Jain temples. I rode a camel into the Thar Desert and slept outside under a canopy of stars after singing Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecelia” with our camel driver.
• McLeod Ganj: I indulged in the cool mountain air and enjoyed the sight of thousands of Tibetan prayer flags waving in the breeze. I could not escape some famous cricket players (and their fan clubs), but did get a glimpse of His Holiness the Dalai Lama!
• Amritsar: I spent hours wandering around the Golden Temple (the holy center of Sikhism) and shared in the community meal called langar. This was one of the most spiritually stirring experiences I have had in India. I also witnessed the amazing Border-Closing Ceremony between India and Pakistan.
• Mussoorie: I attended a hilltop carnival in the foothills of the Himalayas and could (just barely!) see a snowcapped peak in the distance. For the first time in more than a year, I had to wrap myself in a blanket to ward off the cold.
• Haridwar: I waded in the Ganges among thousands of pilgrims, which helped me to escape the burning heat of the sun.
• Delhi: I visited a massive mosque and meandered through several Mughal tombs. I paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his last home and the spot where he fell. I learned how to haggle with rickshaw drivers and shop owners.
• Goa: I chilled on the beach and tasted some delicious seafood, cooked tandoori style. I basked in the familiar scenery of South India, and enjoyed the warmth of the Indian Ocean.

After a month of sleeping on trains, frantically calling hotels to make reservations, catching 4am buses and adjusting to the unique chemical composition of North Indian food, it felt great to come home to Kerala. The coconut trees seemed to wave hello to us as we rolled into Kerala and the skies treated us to a beautiful thunderstorm. I had already fallen in love with this small and relatively inconsequential state, but a month of North India fixed Kerala’s place in my heart.

I am incredibly happy to be back in familiar places and surrounded by familiar faces. I returned to my work on Monday with an energy that a month ago I hadn’t thought possible. It didn’t hurt that the girls at Saanthwanam ran out to meet me and nearly knocked me over with the force of their hugs, or that the women’s faces at Asha Bhavan broke into huge, bright smiles when I returned. Though it had been fun to roam, it was good to be back home.

Sunrise over the Thar Desert in Rajasthan

Cynthia making friends with a cow Jaiselmer, Rajasthan