Punjab notes: Food: Is your dining table a langar?

That we cannot live without food would be stating the obvious. But what's obvious is not as unimportant as it looks. We take it for granted because we see an exponential increase in food production made possible by advancements in technology. The case has been quite the opposite in the past for thousands of years as the search for food and ensuring its regular supply was the most exacting task for individuals as well as groups.

Human beings spent most of their time in creating sources which would eliminate the fear of starvation and dread of famine. Ample historical evidence exists to support this view. All the extant scriptures are full of references to food. Humans in innumerable hymns beseech God to save them from hunger and bless them with food. The Lord's bounty was perceived in terms of regular provision of food.

'O Lord Provider of food grains, and all edibles /Thanks for giving us food today /May this food be disease- free and nourishing / and be it good for my body, mind and soul, I pray / O benefactor of the donors and providers of food, may all living receive their sustenance every day / Peace be on all, everywhere, all times!', says Bhojanam Mantra.

One important way of offsetting scarcity which constantly threatened human survival was sharing of what was available. Sharing had [and still has] twofold effect; it made optimum use of limited resources at hand and also created human bond among the recipients leading to social harmony and cultural cohesion. Sadly in the subcontinent caste based segregation enforced strict dietary laws which were in exclusive in nature. Each caste was dictated by its restrictive food rules which discouraged sharing, to say the least.

The concept of community kitchen or public feast has been by and large absent in the Indian society. Each caste was an island. Romila Thapar, an eminent historian, paints in one of her books a dramatic scene of an evening when Hindu Shahi soldiers watched in utter disbelief the officers of Mahmud Ghaznavi's army mixing and dining with the rank and file. It surely had unforeseeable consequences for the army this side of the line.

It were Muslim Sufis and saints who introduced and popularised the concept and practice of 'Langar'.'Langar' literally means a public kitchen, an alms-house. Most prominent among such saints was Baba Farid Shakar Ganj, the trail blazer of Punjabi literary tradition. Food and other related products, natural and man-made run through his poetry as...