UK Sikhs plan 'roti roll langars' to mark Olympic Torch run by Fauja Singh
Thursday, 12/07/2012
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/other-news/UK-Sikhs-plan-roti-roll-langars-to-mark-Olympic-Torch-run-by-Fauja-Singh/articleshow/14835640.cms
The world will witness Sikhism's unique tradition of "langar" (community kitchen) on July 21 when Sikhs will distribute "roti rolls" to public to commemorate the carrying of Olympic Torch by 101-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh.
"We are proud to share with public the 500-year-old Sikh tradition of serving free meals (langar), to celebrate the carrying of Olympic Torch on July 21 by 101-year-old marathoner Fauja Singh," said Parvinder Kaur, project manager of Langar 2012 of United Sikhs, an NGO, on Wednesday.
Third Sikh master Guru Amar Das had formalized the institution of langar, uniting the Sikhs by establishing two key concepts of Pangat and Sangat.
Project director, Langar 2012, Mejinderpal Kaur said that branded in yellow t-shirts, specially designed with Fauja Singh's image, each volunteer from Sikh community and those invited from different faiths and backgrounds would come together to serve free meals to the local community of the five host boroughs of Olympics.
The langar would be distributed at key points of the 30-mile Olympic Torch route from Greenwich Park to Waltham Forest Town Hall, she added.
"There would be several langar service points in each of the five boroughs that the route traverses, each serving at least 1,000 Roti Rolls within two hours," she said. "Should everything go as planned, the Roti Roll Langar is expected to reach out to thousands of people who would have turned up to cheer the day the torch arrives in Newham, where Fauja Singh will carry the torch," she said.
At present, she said, 15 gurdwaras from south and east London had agreed to participate and five more gurdwaras were in the process of deciding. "We are inviting gurdwaras from outside London from as far north as Scotland to as far west as Wales to partner the London gurdwaras in setting up more Langar 2012 service points," she said.
