With a Hindu hymn humming in the background, the aroma of sweet Indian spices permeated through the Dodge-Osborne kitchen yesterday as monk Radha Valabha gave his first vegetarian cooking lesson of the year.
The cooking class is one of two new weekly activities arranged by Rupinder Singh, Assistant Master of Wilson College.
Students passing by the kitchen's entrance stopped in for a free meal of Indian rice, paneer — a type of curd cheese — stir-fried vegetables and also a traditional Indian sweet known as halva.
"The beautiful looking dish was very easy to make, and the food was [a] much-needed change from that of the dining halls," Charlotte Wahalen '04 said.
Valabha remarked, "It's a wonderful communal experience to share a satisfying vegetarian meal."
Valabha, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and grandson of a Princeton alumnus, met Singh at an informal Bhagavad-Gita study group on campus last year. The Gita is a Sanskrit poem consisting of 700 verses.
Interested in Eastern wisdom, Valabha decided to be a monk after searching for a new way of life and spiritual path. He meditates for two hours every morning and closely follows the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita.
He discovered the Gita from a translation of the Tao te Ching, and reading the text immediately inspired him.
Valabha joins Singh and students in a group discussion of the Gita — the second new activity — after the vegetarian cooking class.
To commence this week's Bhagavad-Gita discussion, Singh and Valabha provided a contextual introduction to the text, and the group engaged in brief discussion on a few verses and its philosophical implications.
The group plans to grapple with key Hindu concepts such as dharma and karma, the need to renounce the fruits of one's actions and other heavy questions of life and existence.
"We intend to consider the Gita as a key philosophical — and not religious — text and see if we can discern a philosophy of life or perspective on it from our present perspectives," Singh said.
Next week's meeting will involve reading five to ten verses and commenting on them. Singh stressed, "One's religious background or beliefs are disregarded; instead, we focus on each other's thought process and reaction to the text."
He says he hopes more students will participate in the vegetarian cooking classes and Gita discussion meetings. "Both meetings add an important element to one's education and sense of being," Singh said.
The two activities are both held on Wednesdays: Vegetarian Cooking classes from 5:30 to 7:00 in the Dodge-Osborne Kitchen and Bhagavad-Gita readings from 7:30 to 8:30 in B204 Wilcox Hall.
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