In Himachal when we serve traditional food everyone sits down cross legged on the floor and is served the same food on same plate made of the same leaves and served by the same people. Everyone eats the same way – with their hands. And for a few minutes there are no classes or castes and no haves or have nots. For a few minutes our humanity surfaces and lays us all bare in the face of our basic need.
At a typical feast of this kind, the head chef earns only about 700-800 rupees ($10-12). So I asked him what really motivates him to keep doing this when he earns so little. He replied simply -Good food brings delight to everyone. There is no greater service to humanity!
