Thursday, September 2, 2010

World's largest free kitchen

By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: August 29, 2010
www.nytimes.com

August 29, 2010 AMRITSAR, India — The groaning, clattering machines never stop, transforming 12 tons of whole wheat flour every day into nearly a quarter-million discs of flatbread called roti. These purpose-built contraptions, each 20 feet long, extrude the dough, roll it flat, then send it down a gas-fired conveyor belt, spitting out a never-ending stream of hot, floppy, perfectly round bread.
The rotis never stop coming, extruded from three clattering machines that transform 12 tons of whole wheat flour into nearly a quarter million discs of the flatbread a day.
Soupy lentils, three and a third tons of them, bubble away in vast cauldrons, stirred by bearded, barefoot men wielding wooden spoons the size of canoe paddles. The pungent, savory bite wafting through the air comes from 1,700 pounds of onions and 132 pounds of garlic, sprinkled with 330 pounds of fiery red chilies.
It is lunchtime at what may be the world’s largest free eatery, the langar, or community kitchen at this city’s glimmering Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. Everything is ready for the big rush. Thousands of volunteers have scrubbed the floors, chopped onions, shelled peas and peeled garlic. At least 40,000 metal plates, bowls and spoons have been washed, stacked and are ready to go.
Anyone can eat for free here, and many, many people do. On a weekday, about 80,000 come. On weekends, almost twice as many people visit. Each visitor gets a wholesome vegetarian meal, served by volunteers who embody India’s religious and ethnic mosaic.
“This is our tradition,” said Harpinder Singh, the 45-year-old manager of this huge operation. “Anyone who wants can come and eat.”
Barefoot men with wooden spoons stir bubbling cauldrons at the community kitchen at the Golden Temple. On a weekday, some 80,000 people come to eat. On weekends, almost twice as many people visit Sikhism, which emerged in the Punjab region of India in the 15th century, strongly rejects the notion of caste, which lies at the core of Hinduism. The Golden Temple seeks to embody this principle, and nowhere is it more evident than in the community kitchen, where everyone, no matter their religion, wealth or social status, is considered equal
India is not only the world’s largest democracy, it also is one of the most spiritually diverse nations. It was born in a horrific spasm of religious bloodshed when British India was torn in two to create a Muslim homeland in Pakistan. Yet from the moment of its independence, India has been a resolutely secular nation and has managed to accommodate an extraordinary range of views on such fundamental questions as the nature of humanity, the existence of God and the quality of the soul.
Indeed, few places in India demonstrate so clearly the country’s genius for diversity and tolerance, the twin reasons that India — despite its fractures and fissures — has remained one nation.
Sikhism, which emerged in the Punjab region of India in the 16th century, strongly rejects the notion of caste, which lies at the core of Hinduism.
The Golden Temple, a giant complex of marble and glittering gold that sits at the heart of this sprawling, hectic city near the border with Pakistan, seeks to embody this principle. Nowhere is it more evident than in the community kitchen, where everyone, no matter his religion, wealth or social status, is considered equal.
Guru Amar Das created the community kitchen during his time as the third Sikh guru in the 16th century. Its purpose, he said, was to place all of humanity on the same plane. At the temple’s museum, one painting shows the wife of one of the gurus serving common people, “working day and night in the kitchen like an ordinary worker,” the caption says.
Volunteerism and community support are other central tenets of Sikhism expressed in the langar. When the Mughal emperor Akbar tried to give Guru Amar Das a platter of gold coins to support the kitchen, he refused to accept them, saying the kitchen "is always run with the blessings of the Almighty." Indians of all faiths come here to find a measure of peace largely unavailable in the cacophony of India's 1.2 billion people. The child of one of the volunteers sleeps in the kitchen of the Golden Temple
Volunteerism and community support are other central tenets of Sikhism expressed in the langar. When the Mughal emperor Akbar tried to give Guru Amar Das a platter of gold coins to support the kitchen, he refused to accept them, saying the kitchen “is always run with the blessings of the Almighty.”
Ashok Kumar, a Hindu with a scraggly beard, has been coming to the kitchen for the past five years — all day, almost every day — to work as a volunteer. “It is my service,” he explained, after reluctantly taking a very brief break from his syncopated tray sorting.
A white cloth covered his head, and his hands were bound like a boxer’s. His job is to man the heavy bucket that receives the dirty plates and bowls. He is the last man on a highly organized line that begins with collecting the spoons, dumping out any leftover food, then loading giant tubs of dirty dishes bound for the washing troughs.
Plates and bowls fly at him, but he never misses a beat, using a metal plate in each hand to deflect the traffic into the tub. Plates go around the rim, while bowls get stacked in the middle.
Mr. Kumar used to be a bookbinder.
“I feel happy here,” he said when asked why he had given up his old life.
Indian volunteers of every faith and social status wash dishes in the kitchen at the Golden Temple Each visitor gets a wholesome vegetarian meal, served by volunteers who embody India's religious and ethnic mosaic
Indians of all faiths come here to find a measure of peace largely unavailable in the cacophony of the nation’s 1.2 billion people. Like the thousands of pairs of shoes left at the temple gates, the chaos and filth of urban life are left behind at the marble entrances.
The temple is a world of cleanliness and order — where the wail of the harmonium and the shuffling of bare feet are the only sounds, and every square inch is scrubbed many times a day.
It has not always been a peaceful place. A Sikh insurgency, which sought a separate homeland for Sikhs in Punjab, tore at India’s heart in the 1970s and ’80s. In 1984, Indira Gandhi, then the prime minister, ordered a bloody raid on the temple. Hundreds of militants were hiding there, and many were killed. The temple was also damaged. Sikh bodyguards later assassinated Mrs. Gandhi to avenge the attack on the temple.
Despite this history, Sikhs remain resolutely a part of India’s mainstream, holding leading positions in the arts, government and business. India’s current prime minister, Manmohan Singh, is a Sikh.
Pankaj Ahuja, who owns a medical supply shop in Rajasthan, was visiting the temple for the third time, this time bringing his wife and son, who had never been before. They took the Golden Temple Express train, and were sleeping in the pilgrims’ dormitories, which are also free. The family is Hindu, but the temple has a special significance for them nonetheless.
“You have lots of religious places in this country,” said Mr. Ahuja’s wife, Nikita. “But the kind of peace and cleanliness you find here you won’t find anywhere else.”
Back home, cleaning floors would be considered degrading for someone of her status — people of low caste usually do such work. But here, Mrs. Ahuja happily scrubs floors.
“In normal life, I would ask, ‘Why should I do this?’ It is shameful to clean floors,” she said. “But here, it is different.”
Indeed, she never gives a moment’s thought to who prepared the food in the kitchen, even though in India’s highly stratified caste traditions such matters are vital.
“It is more than food,” she said of the meals that she had eaten at the community kitchen. “Once you eat it, you forget who is cooking, who is serving it, who is sitting next to you.”
Anil Kumar, a 32-year-old Hindu, was up to his elbows in soapy water at one of the washing troughs.
“At home, I would never do this,” he said with a laugh. “It is my wife’s work.”
But he said he tried to come for at least an hour every day to wash dishes. “It is not a question of religion,” he added. “It is a question of faith. Here I feel a feeling of peace.”
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.

New Zealand Tests before Commonwealth Games

MALAYSIA lost 2-1 to New Zealand in the World Cup Qualifier.

THE Malaysian hockey team will play three matches against New Zealand at the Tun Razak Stadium in their final preparation for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games on Oct 4-14.
Malaysia are in Group A with world champions Australia, hosts India, Pakistan and Scotland. In Group B are New Zealand, England, Canada, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago.
“We have arranged for three matches against New Zealand on Sept 27 to 29, while the team will head for New Delhi on the 30th,” said Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) secretary Hashim Yusof.
The Commonwealth Games squad will play in the first two matches, while the national juniors will play in the third match against the Kiwis.
Malaysia open accounts in New Delhi against India on Oct 5, followed by Pakistan the next day. Scotland will be the third hurdle on Oct 8, while Australia have been reserved for last on Oct 10.
“New Zealand are in Group B, but we might meet them in the semi-finals and that is why the three matches will be crucial in the team’s preparations,” said Hashim.
Malaysia last played the Kiwis in the World Cup Qualifier and lost 2-1 after taking a 1-0 lead.
The matches against India and Pakistan are always close while Malaysia beat Scotland 3-1 in the recent France Five- Nation en-route to lifting the title.

Netherlands on another rampage

A hat-trick from Krystal FORGESSON in her 100th game could not stop a rampant Netherlands side from scoring seven times for the second successive game to run out comfortable winners against New Zealand in the second game of the day here in Rosario. Oranje fully deserved their victory, producing a master class of attacking hockey that included a period of four goals being scored in 14 breathless minutes.

Match 11 - Netherlands v New Zealand 7-3
> Netherland beat New Zealand 7-3 to go top of the table in Pool A.
> This 10-goal match is the joined second on the list of World Cup matches with most goals. Other World Cup matches with at least 10 goals are Germany-Nigeria (10-1) in 1978 and Netherlands – Soviet Union (7-3) in 1981.
> The Dutch have now scored 14 goals in 2 matches: 7 goals per match on average. Their highest World Cup average of 4 goals per match dates back to 1981.
> This match saw both teams score within 3 minutes of the start of the game. The last time this happened in a World Cup match was in 2002 in the RSA - ENG match (2-2) when Helen Grant (ENG, 2’) and Johke Koornhof (RSA, 3’) scored early goals.
> Four of the six Dutch goalscorers today also scored the match against India (Paumen, Hoog, Lammers and Agliotti).
> Janneke Schopman (NED) has now scored in the last 3 World Cups (2002, 2006 and 2010).
> Krystal Forgesson (NZL) scored a hat-trick while picking up 100 caps for New Zealand.