Trring…! The doorbell rang. When
Manpreet opened the door she saw Divya and Swastik there. She called out
excitedly, “Gurnoor! Look who has come.” Gurnoor came running.
When she saw her friends she hugged them
happily. “When did you come from the hostel (Boarding School)?”“Just
Yesterday. Where are your parents? We want to meet them,” Swastik said.
“They are at the Gurudwara. We were
about to go there too,” Gurnoor replied. “Oh good, we will also come with you,”
said Divya.
“You come home only in the vacations. Do
you like staying in your hostel? You must be missing your parents,” Gurnoor
asked.
Divya said, “We do miss them, but hostel
life is fun. Even if we don’t always like the food, we
enjoy eating together with all the children.”
“You know, when someone in our hostel
gets home-made food, we all rush to their rooms. That food finishes within
minutes,” Swastik said laughingly.
At the Gurudwara The children chatted
all the way to the Gurudwara. There, they covered their heads. They
went into kitchen of the Gurudwara.
It was very huge. A lot of activity was
going on there. Food was being cooked in huge vessels. On one side the channa
and urad dal was boiling.
In another vessel, the cauliflower and
potato vegetable was being made. “There is your Papa! Gurnoor, let us go and
meet him,” Swastik said.
“What are you doing here?” Manjit Singh
was happy to see the children. “Uncle, can we also help in the kitchen? What
are you preparing ?” Swastik asked.
Manjit Singh said, “I am preparing
kadhah prasad. It takes a lot of effort to roast the flour in ghee in this big
kadhai.” “This is a kind of halwa. Isn’t it? When will you add sugar in it?”
Divya asked.
They saw Manpreet’s mother and rushed to
meet her. Divya asked, “What are you doing Aunty ?” “Beta, we are rolling
chapaties to bake them in this tandoor.”
“So many chapaties at one go!” Divya was
surprised. “Can I help?” “Sure! come and try, here everyone can help, but wash
your hands first,” replied Aunty.
Divya washed her hands and joined the
group near the tava. The tava was very hot. She started applying ghee on the
chapaties as they were being taken out of the tava.
Swastik wondered aloud, “Who brings all
the material to cook so much food?” One of the ladies answered, “Everyone here
contributes in some way or the other.
Some arrange for the material, some give
money, and others help in the work”. “So Swastik, how do you like it? Have
you ever cooked before?” teased Manpreet. “No, but I am enjoying working with
everyone, ” said Swastik.
We hardly realised how all this food – chapaties,
rice, halwa, dal and vegetable – got prepared so fast.
After ardaas, kadhah prasad was distributed.
Some of the boys quickly laid out durries in the verandah and all the people
sat down in rows to have langar.
Some people served food and others served water.
Some people served food and others served water.
Everyone ate together. After finishing
food everyone picked up one’s own plate, and put it in a big drum. People who were serving, ate in the end. They
cleaned the place and washed the utensils.
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