'If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change" is one of Mahatma Ghandi's most famous maxims and in Punjab, India, there's a temple that's a living example of those words. A documentary about that temple, titled "Himself He Cooks," is both empowering and humbling, a paradisal trip for the senses to a destination so exotic it makes fictional-travel movies look tawdry.
"Himself" takes us to Harmandir Sahib, the "Golden Temple" in Amritsar, famed for its breathtaking architectural beauty and its often violent history. In 1984 for example, the Indian Army clashed with rebel Sikhs whose headquarters were in the Golden Temple, leading to the deaths of several hundred civilians. On that day — like other days of turmoil leading up to this moment — the temple has served a total of 50,000 meals a day to anyone who's hungry, regardless of religion, class, gender, whatever, for 500 years. The meals are handmade, prepared and served by 300 volunteers that work with an astonishing amount of food (which is all donated): 2,300 kg of flour, 830 kg of beans, 644 kg of rice, and on and on.
The kitchen is enormous, and spills into the temple's main entrance and out to the sacred pool that the temple is built besides. The volunteer cooks are everywhere, each toiling at their designated task: A gentleman in a gleaming white shirt and elegant slacks sits on the steps peeling garlic; rows upon rows of ladies — sitting in what appears to be a vast, open corridor — chop vegetables and grind spices; a man hops inside a wok the size of a jacuzzi and starts scrubbing away.