NOW SERVE LANGAR... ‘VIRTUALLY’

SULTANPURLODHI: One of the three main pillars of the teachings of Guru Nanak, apart from naam japo (meditation, singing of hymns from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib or contemplating on God) and kirat karo (earn an honest living) , is vand chhako. It means share what you have and consume it with your community, which is why langars (community meals) are an intrinsic part of Sikh culture.

Now, however, with the advent of technology, one can enjoy Sikh hospitality by way of ‘virtual’ langars.

A virtual reality game, being showcased at an exhibition in Sultanpur Lodhi to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, allows viewers to experience serving langar. Two screens, a remote control and virtual reality glasses take them to another world where they can serve food to devotees sitting in rows. Each person gets three chances to play. The game has been set up by the Central government’s bureau of outreach and communications in a stall in coordination with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar.

And that’s not all. People can get their pictures taken with dozens of cameras with 3D words from the Gurbani at the stall where photographs of 32 gurdwaras across India and Pakistan have been displayed. Also, as Guru Nanak repeatedly stressed on giving importance to women in his teachings, the contributions of four prominent women in Sikh history have been highlighted. They are Mata Gujriji, mother of the tenth Guru Gobind Singh; Mata Bhag Kaur, who led Sikh soldiers against the Mughals in 1705; Mata Khivi, wife of the second Sikh Guru Angad Dev, who established the Sikh tradition of community kitchen and Mata Ganga, wife of the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev.

DRONE SHOW

In another thumbs up to technology, the drone show to be organised with a huge backdrop of Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, will offer glimpses of the life history of Guru Nanak.