Sikhism Books

“Langar and the Laboratory
(Sonnet 2835-2837)

In this world nothing is straightforward,
so you must never accept anything at face value.
To elaborate this let me bring up my
two fundamental inklings - science and faith,
but when I say faith, I'm talking about a human spirit
beyond your puny heaven-centered christian theology.

Faith oughta be synonymous with service, and
I'm not talking about transactional christian charity,
because christian charity comes with strings attached,
I'm talking about actual selfless, rewardless service.

In that respect, the only religion I can think of
is sikhism - in a neighborhood that has a sikh langar
nobody goes hungry, that too without Nanak being
shoved down the throat as the only way to salvation.

Theologically, Jainism is the religion of nonviolence,
while in practice, Sikhism is the religion of service.
But that's not what I started out to elaborate,
what I wanted to point out is this -

in a neighborhood with a langar and a laboratory,
where do you think, can a hungry person find a warm meal -
not in the laboratory, but at the langar,
so now tell me, which one is more honorable,
science or faith?

But then again, if a new strain of virus suddenly
breaks out, langar or laboratory,
from where do you think,
will come the vaccine?

So you see, nothing is straightforward,
science and faith both have their place,
but if you ask a fish to fly or a bird to swim,
you only end up with a world full of frustrated fish
and frustrated birds, that can neither fly nor swim.

One langar prevents a hundred prisons.
One laboratory prevents a hundred quarantine zones.
One classroom prevents a hundred warzones.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tierra Carta: Naskar Charter of Earth