Langar Seva in Gurudwara's Even During Lockdown
'Seva'– selfless service– doesn't stop for anything
By Mehr Sohal
Gurudwara's (a place of worship for Sikhs) all around the world usually serves langar (communal kitchen) every single day– which is a free meal provided to all visitors, regardless of religion, ethnicity, caste, and beliefs. While this itself is truly a kind gesture by the Sikh community, it is even more humbling to see that these gurudwara's have been continuing the practice of making langar during the lockdown to help families who can't even afford a meal in these trying times.
Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, home to Delhi's biggest langar, has fed approximately 100,000 people with the help of merely 53 sevaks (volunteers). These self-service volunteers have been working from 4 am onwards, for 18 hours a day, for the past 2 months– hence, showing that "seva never stops".
However, a manager of the gurudwara in the above video stated that no one works by the clock; and volunteers enjoy helping out those in need for hours on end. This is the true essence of "kirat kart"– working honestly.
This Delhi Gurudwara has also started a 'Langar on Wheels' initiative, that I find truly amazing. They send out approximately 15 food vans with packaged langar to distribute amongst the poor in all corners of the city. Therefore, bringing the gurudwara to those who can't travel the distance. While you may think these are solely Sikh efforts, it must be noted that even Hindus and Muslims are donating food to the gurudwara; not letting religion get in the way of service to the community.
These efforts are global too, with the Sikh center of New York serving more than 145,000 free meals in the past two months (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/dining/free-food-sikh-gundwara-langar.html). They have gone to the extent of engaging in seva by feeding those in the protests for George Floyd.
Khalsa Aid, a UK based organization that has known to be there in times of need, has been working extremely hard to distribute langar and PPE kits amongst the less fortunate. These include frontline workers, government hospitals, and police personnel in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Amritsar to name a few cities.
Things are truly horrible in the world right now; but it is nice and comforting to read about selfless acts taken by the community to alleviate the problems of some people.
