At the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, Spain in 2004, and again in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2015, the Sikh community served langar, feeding thousands of people for free. Langar is an institution established by the Sikh Masters in the 16th-18th centuries, where people would come, sit together equally and eat for free - with no distinctions of class, religion, gender or caste. When the Sikhs first served langar in Barcelona, attendees said that it was a “game changer” for the Interfaith movement.
The Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jetha in Birmingham, UK, under the guidance of Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh ji, helped organize and support these langars. What is the history of how this came to be? How did the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jetha develop the ability to take these large scale langar programs on the road, to the wider community?
In this audio interview, Sukhbir Singh ji with the GNNSJ describes the journey that unfolded: from serving langar to ten thousand Hindus during a spiritual ceremony in Birmingham UK, to serving thousands of people every day during the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions in the United States. This fascinating piece of contemporary Sikh history reminds us that feeding people, regardless of their background, is one of the most important human and spiritual institutions established by the Sikh Gurus.
“People said Barcelona was a game changer for the interfaith movement. Never had anything like that happened in any interfaith event or organization anywhere in the history of the world….Our community didn’t want any praise. We offered it to the Parliament...Our only aim and goal was to do simran and seva.” - Sukhbir Singh ji.
“When you allow the blessings of the Guru to work with whatever you are doing, the work becomes like clock-work. If Sukhbir Singh or Balbir Singh are organizing food, then yes - “I” have done this for 100 people or 200 people. But once you allow the blessings or kirpa of Sat Guru to take over, then everything starts working like clockwork. We might have made some amount of food. But the amount of food that continues to come, we don’t know where it is coming from. People in their appreciation are making donations, which we are putting back into langar.” - Sukhbir Singh ji.