Sangat and Pangat - Eating as Equals

Dadi: "Guddu, when you eat in the school cafeteria, does everyone sit wherever they want?"

Guddu: "Pretty much, yes. Sometimes friend groups sit together."

Dadi: "What if there was a rule that rich kids had to sit separately from less wealthy kids? Or that certain groups couldn't eat the same food?"

Guddu: "That would be terrible and unfair!"

Dadi: "Five hundred years ago, that's exactly how society worked in India. Different castes couldn't eat together. A Brahmin touching food from a lower caste was considered polluted. Then Guru Nanak changed everything with two simple words: Sangat and Pangat."

Guddu: "What do those words mean?"

Dadi: "Sangat means gathering together - people of all backgrounds coming together as equals. Pangat means sitting in a row - eating in the same line, shoulder to shoulder."

Guddu: "So everyone eats together?"

Dadi: "Yes! And it started with that story I told you before - when young Guru Nanak spent his father's money feeding hungry strangers instead of buying merchandise. That "True Bargain" planted the seed."

Guddu: "And then what grew from that seed?"

Dadi: "Guru Nanak established a rule: "Pehle Pangat, Pichhon Sangat" - first share a meal together, then have a gathering. Before anyone could meet with the Guru for teachings, they had to eat in the communal kitchen called Langar."

Guddu: "Everyone? Even important people?"

Dadi: "Even Emperor Akbar! When the mighty Mughal Emperor came to visit Guru Amar Das, he was told he must first sit on the floor and eat with everyone else - farmers, laborers, people of all castes and religions."

Guddu: "Did the Emperor do it?"

Dadi: "He did! He sat in the row like everyone else and ate the same simple food. Imagine - the most powerful man in India, sitting on the floor, eating with common people. That's the power of Pangat."

Guddu: "Why was this such a big deal?"

Dadi: "Because for centuries, caste had divided India. A high-born Brahmin wouldn't even look at food touched by a Shudra. Eating together was unthinkable! But in the Langar, everyone sat in the same row, ate the same food, served by the same hands."

Guddu: "That must have shocked people!"

Dadi: "It did! But slowly, people realized something beautiful: when you eat together, you see each other as equals. The fancy businessman and the poor sweeper both get hungry. Both need food. Both are human."

Guddu: "What about the food itself?"

Dadi: "Always simple, always vegetarian, always free. No one pays. No one is denied. The belief is: "Let no one be hungry where the spirit of God dwells.""

Guddu: "That's beautiful, Dadi."

Dadi: "And it continues today! Every Gurdwara in the world serves Langar. Millions of meals are served every day - in India, in England, in America, everywhere. Anyone can walk in - Sikh or not, rich or poor, any religion - and eat for free."

Guddu: "So Guru Nanak's idea spread everywhere?"

Dadi: "Twenty rupees spent on hungry strangers became a global movement. The little seed of the True Bargain became a forest of community kitchens feeding millions."

Guddu: "What does this teach us?"

Dadi: "Many things, beta. That equality happens when we share. That no one is above sitting on the floor with everyone else. That serving food to others is sacred service. That barriers between people disappear when we eat together."

Guddu: "It's like saying: we're all the same when we're hungry."

Dadi: "Exactly! Hunger doesn't check your caste. Food doesn't taste different based on who made it. When we remember our basic humanity - our need for nourishment, our need for community - all the artificial divisions seem silly."

Guddu: "I wish everywhere was like Langar."

Dadi: "You can help make it so! Share your lunch with a friend who forgot theirs. Don't look down on anyone based on where they come from. Remember that the person sitting next to you, eating the same food - they're your equal, no matter what."

Guddu: "Pehle Pangat, Pichhon Sangat."

Dadi: "You pronounced it perfectly, beta. First, eat together. Then, everything else becomes possible."