Gurudwara Social Service

The effect of staying with a Sikh family is slowly BUT steadily showing off in me!
“Chak – de - Phatte”

I stay in Hounslow and the centre of attraction of the area is this massive and beautiful gurudwara – a Sikh place of worship.
Harry goes there daily and I love the desi ghee ka halwa she gets for me … absolutely sumptuous

Yesterday after a long wait I called Harry to find her whereabouts as she was not back from office and it was way past her regular time. The lady was in the gurudwara doing the voluntary service of serving food to the people – langar

Oh and yes our gurdwara serves 3 meals a day, every day of the year, free for anyone and everyone – and you do see a lot of Europeans in our Gurudwara!

Coming back to my dear Harry, chunni over her head, was busy serving food, flashing that gorgeous smile of hers which increased when she saw me (I required a lot of convincing over the phone to get out of my night dress and come out of the house when it was pouring heavily - She thought I will never make it)

All that Hello and Hi was enough to make us start one of our long chatty sessions – the never ending ones.
She served me langar which needless to say tastes next to what a mother can cook … nothing can beat it!

Once I was over with my dinner, I took over from her to do the service while she eats her dinner. Yes, I did service in the gurudwara …
I REPEAT: I stay with a Sikh family …

I have done community service before but this was a very different experience in itself. It is not easy to serve food into someone’s plate especially when you don’t know the persons taste and appetite.

You have to name the dish being served, then serve as requested (quantity and the exact place in the plate :-) ), remember the rules of quantity management and you should always be polite - inspite of who is on the other side being served.

I also served people who understood only Punjabi or a strange dialect they called English … Sign language comes to aid then ;-)
* Other Option: Start talking real fast n loud with a big gleaming smile on your face … serve everything then

I slept peacefully yesterday … No, not because of what you are thinking but because I was quite tired after those hrs of standing to serve food ;-)