A History of Agriculture in India v2.c64.s1.13

v2.c64.s1.13

At Kartarpur, Guru Nanak started the cultivation of land. He himself participated in the ploughing of the land and in other agricultural chores. His wife looked after the *langar* (the community kitchen). ‘The combination of piety and practical activity which Guru Nanak manifested in his own life he bequeathed to his followers’, states McLeod, ‘and it remains characteristic of many who own him as Guru today. At its best it is a piety devoid of superstition and a practical activity compounded with determination and an immense generosity. It explained much that has happened in the Punjab during the last four centuries and it explains much that can be witnessed there today.’² The food produced was donated to the *langar*, the community kitchen, in which all visitors irrespective of caste and creed ate together. People belonging to all castes participated in cooking and serving food. High and low, they ate together sitting in a row. This was the first experiment in socialism in rural India. Even now in this commercial age free food is provided to all visitors in Sikh gurdwaras.