Taking part in the Kindness Kitchen at Auroville

Auroville has been my home for a while now. In my quest to immerse myself in the depths of this community, I discovered the Kindness Kitchen, a local community kitchen. My journey, guided by kindness and compassion since my Vipassana experience earlier this year, has taken me to various places across Tamil Nadu. One could say that the Kindness Kitchen was born as a by-product of these very virtues.

A wonderful Auroville family organized this event, opening their doors to strangers who believe in collaborative efforts and, of course, are hungry! 😉 As with most events I look forward to, I arrived first. I was greeted with warm smiles that immediately made me feel comfortable and welcome. Lunch preparations were already underway.

The menu boasted a wide variety of dishes. It was a vegan Tamil meal that promised to be a delight for my taste buds, featuring pulses, vegetables, fruits, and spinach. We planned to cook for at least 25 people.

The anticipated taste of pulikuzhambu (tamarind gravy with vegetables, one of my favorites) was already tantalizing as I began stemming drumstick leaves to prepare sautéed moringa. Next, I ground coconuts, essential for enhancing the flavor of both the moringa leaves and pulikuzhambu. Then, I moved on to chopping raw papayas for pappali kootu, a South Indian stew. As I cut into the papayas, we discovered that the seeds had germinated—a sight that left the entire kitchen crew in awe, as none of us had ever seen or heard of this before!

As time passed, more guests arrived to join us. It was a diverse crowd from different walks of life and parts of the world. The kitchen buzzed with smiles and cheerful exchanges: "That's so awesome, you did that!" "Oh, so glad to see you!" "I love coming to places like this where I can give back to the community." And all the while, the chopping continued!

I teamed up with the kids to tackle the shallots (or baby onions, as they're called). It's definitely not an easy task! Shallots are small, numerous, and need to be finely minced. When I finished chopping them, I felt victorious. I usually buy large onions for cooking at home due to their ease of peeling and cutting.

After the cooking was complete, we gathered for a small prayer before serving began. I joined the service team, which I love doing. Besides cooking, my favorite part is serving food attentively and meticulously to ensure everyone has a pleasant meal and feels comfortable eating.

After serving the first group, it was my turn to eat. I was excited to taste everything we had cooked—conscious food made by the hands of people, including mine, who had just met, from different parts of the world. All of us were there to help, collaborate, and enjoy a delicious lunch. I was thrilled!

The most important ingredients weren't just the organic farm produce, but also the wholehearted intentions and thoughtful service. Can you guess what the food tasted like? It was absolutely wonderful! As expected, it was a treat for my taste buds. What a great meal!

My main takeaway from the day was the feeling of generosity and kindness infused in both the food and the conversations I had with the participants. It's one way I know I've had a great day.

Thank you for accompanying me on this journey. I greatly appreciate your time and interest. Gratitude! Follow @noproperplans for more updates. Thanks for stopping by!