1699: the five who stood up
Harpreet recounts the Vaisakhi of 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh asked for a head and five men stepped forward, and explains what the Khalsa, the five Ks and the name Singh were meant to change.
Why everyone sits on the floor: Guru Nanak and the first langar
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Show notes
Twenty rupees and a true bargain
The first episode begins with a teenage Guru Nanak, sent by his father to trade with twenty rupees, spending it instead on food for a group of hungry ascetics and calling it the true bargain. Harpreet follows that story to the langar hall where he is recording, and explains why every person there sits at the same level.
- The sacha sauda story and what the sources actually say
- Caste, hierarchy and the radical act of a shared floor
- Guest Surinder Kaur, 78, who has cooked dal here since 1991
- How a gurdwara kitchen feeds 3,000 people on a festival morning
Next week: the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, and the five who stood up.
Transcript
Sat Sri Akal, and welcome to Langar and Lessons. My name is Harpreet Singh Gill. I taught history for fourteen years, I am a school principal now, and every Sunday morning for twenty years I have been here, in this gurdwara kitchen in Surrey, British Columbia, stirring a pot that is bigger than most bathtubs. You may be able to hear it. This show tells the Sikh story the way I taught history: properly, with sources, with the hard parts kept in. We start at the beginning, with a teenager named Nanak, twenty rupees, and a decision his father never forgave. From that moment comes the free kitchen that now feeds millions of people a day, and the reason everyone in this hall, rich or poor, sits on the floor. Surinder Kaur, who has made the dal since 1991, joins me. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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