Karma Kitchen Update

One of my regrets, in life, is that I haven't always been as generous as I could have been. It had to do with the assumption that I had very limited resources, which, in a way, I did; but I think of myself in Bangalore haggling with auto drivers over twenty rupees and I'm a little embarrassed.

One of the pleasures, then, of my life in DC is that I have the opportunity to give more; and I've found that going to Karma Kitchen has made me hyper-aware of ways in which I could pay-it-forward. It also helps that they give you a card at the end of your meal on which you can write down your thoughts (and then drop the thoughts, anonymously, into a box) and I've been using the card as a way to commit myself to various giving actions (e.g. "this week I will donate to such-and-such").

After my experience last week, I wrote that I hoped to be able to pay my meal forward by (once again) feeding someone else. There was, in fact, a specific person I had in mind; he stands outside of the Corner Bakery with a sign that reads "VET NO DRUGS HONGRY" but he too seems to have anticipated my overenthusiastic do-goodery because I didn't see him once this week.

So instead, on Friday with my promise almost due, I brought in donuts for the office and fed twenty-four people instead of one.

(Then, on Saturday, my sister called me up and said "I'm hungry. What do you have in your refrigerator?" so that kind of counts too.)

I also:

• Donated to Nina Paley (as promised)
• Donated an ATL dress (nearly-new; had only been worn 3x) to the Karma Kitchen "kindness table"
• Gave $1 to a guy standing outside of the Metro who said he needed money for a ticket

Not a lot but still better than nothing. I also have a plan for how I'm going to pay-it-forward this week, and will keep you updated. ^__^

After Karma Kitchen

So today, because it was my first trip to Karma Kitchen, I was treated as a guest (after which, I promptly signed up to volunteer). Lunch was a thali which included aloo gobi, chana masala, saag paneer, dal, naan, rice, and kheer (also lassi and chai); since I am a small person who eats small meals, there was about twice as much food as I cared to eat.

Unfortunately because the food had already been plated, it couldn't be sent back to serve to someone else; so the kitchen wrapped it up for me and said I could take it home if I wanted.

But taking home the food didn't make sense; this was food that was meant to be given to people, not stored in a refrigerator. So I set off, doggie bag in hand, to pay-it-forward to the homeless man who sits outside of the Starbucks near Dupont Circle. (I picked him because I knew he would be there. He's always there.)

When I saw him, sitting on the sidewalk, I suddenly thought that it might be embarrassing for him to eat this leftover meal with his hands, so I decided to get him a fork and some napkins. I went into the Starbucks and swiped a few napkins, but couldn't find a fork; they only had straws and sugar packets. So then I went into the Marvelous Market next door and stole a plastic fork when nobody was looking; but when I walked outside with it this guy on the street bumped into me and I dropped the fork onto the ground. I couldn't give the homeless man a dirty fork, but I didn't want to steal two forks from the same place (stealing one was okay, but stealing two just seemed wrong), so I walked down the block to Firehook Bakery and stole a plastic fork from them.

When I made it back to the Starbucks, the homeless guy was gone. I walked around Dupont Circle and didn't see him. (No doubt he anticipated my presumption and vanished.)

So, disappointed, I took my leftover food and my stolen fork and began to walk back home.

Then, on the corner of 18th and Columbia, as I was crossing the street (the one near Tryst and the McDonalds), this man looked at me. Literally as we were passing each other in the middle of the street. He didn't look "homeless," not like the guy who sits outside of the Starbucks and wraps himself in newspaper, but he looked right at me as we were crossing the street and he said "Lady, can you help me get something to eat?"

And right in the middle of the street I handed him my doggie bag and the fork and napkins and said "here--it's for you!"

I think I have to be a bit cautious about what I ask the universe for. But I hope the man enjoyed his meal.

Karma Kitchen DC

So I've been thinking lately that I need to "give back." I mean, here I am with a great job and a great apartment and a daily yoga practice (and a toaster) and I couldn't have done any of this without a combination of work, luck, friends, and gifts.

I've also been thinking that I want to go out and meet more people.

Oh, and I also want to learn how to cook a dosa that doesn't look like a dead pancake.

I happened to write all of those things down yesterday afternoon, as I sat in Tryst with my laptop and thought to myself "what do I want to do next?" I mean, I wrote that I wanted to meet Ira Glass, and he showed up three days later in the Borders across the street. I wrote that I wanted to see They Might Be Giants, and two weeks later I was there, singing along to "Whistling In The Dark."

So I wrote a whole list of things, which included the above list: "giving back," meeting people, and cooking. (It also included "meeting Madhur Jaffrey," but the internet says she lives in London right now.)

At first I thought they would all be separate things. "Giving back" would mean sending money to Nina Paley because I'm hosting a screening of her movie Sita Sings The Blues later this week; meeting people would mean dragging myself to something at Meetup.com, and cooking would mean shelling out $300 for classes at L'Academie de Cuisine.

And then the universe said "No, I will give you all of these things in one neat package. Although you should probably still give that donation to Nina Paley."

In short: Karma Kitchen.

What is Karma Kitchen? It's based on the same principles as a langar hall; fresh, free vegetarian food available to anyone who walks in the door. Karma Kitchen takes it in a few different directions; for starters, they want the guests to have a "fine dining experience," which means linens and china and attentive waitstaff. More importantly, Karma Kitchen gives all of its guests a "bill" at the end of the meal that reads:

Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. We hope you will pay-it-forward however you wish.

In other words, it's not a soup kitchen. It's an... anyone kitchen. Anyone who needs a meal, and anyone who wants to share a meal with other people. Pay-it-forward however you wish.

The DC Karma Kitchen is an offshoot of the original Karma Kitchen in Berkeley. Anyone can volunteer. I can volunteer. Which means that I can spend Sunday afternoons working with fun, interesting people; providing excellent service to guests (all those years of waitressing can be put to good use!); and--selfishly--watching the cooks do their thing.

I spent today at Karma Kitchen and had the best time. I'm absolutely going back next week.