Living in the Okanogan supplies us with more cultural
experiences than we ever expected. For
example, Mexican food is excellent here, partly because many of the fruit
pickers are Mexican. The grocery stores
have ample supplies of Mexican foods, such as fresh hot peppers, so you can easily
create more authentic cuisine.
One of the other major cultures represented here is East
Indian, for many Indians have migrated here to run orchards, nurseries and
vineyards.
One vineyard of note, Kismet, not only has an excellent Indian restaurant to complement their wines, but they have started hosting nights
featuring Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, in the late fall.
According to Wikipedia, Diwali is one of the most popular
festivals of Hinduism, symbolizing the spiritual "victory
of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance." At the peak, people wear their finest
clothes, decorate everywhere with many lights, partake in family feasts and
have fireworks.
Four of us went to the
winery to experience Diwali, and it was a blast!
People were invited to wear
their best Bollywood outfits, and when we arrived, the women were given
scarves, and the men were offered turbans.
Brian (as well as several
others) opted for the turban, and he got suitably wrapped by an experienced and
dignified expert. The cloth used is
surprisingly long.
Now we looked authentic.
One of the traditions is
creating artistic designs with coloured sand, and we got a chance to decorate
the word “Kismet” in many colours. (This is for luck.)
When we arrived, we were
offered a glass of champagne. Then the
food started flowing. We were offered a
buffet with three cold dishes and four hot dishes, and the food was excellent.
(See all the lights
decorating the inside?)
We had eaten well and just
settled down to see what was going to happen next. The our hosts announced that we were going
to have a display of Indian dancing, followed by the main meal. (What?!?!?!
That was just the appetizers?.........)
Out came some of the younger
women and did a nice display.
Then the buffet was replaced
by another full set of cold and hot dishes, and belts started to make popping sounds.
More women came out to dance
and then the women in the crowd were encouraged to join.
Finally, a large dessert
buffet was laid out, and now it looked like dancing was going to be a mandatory
weight loss regime for the next 10 hours.
Eventually,
we were ushered outside, (again beautifully decorated with lights) and were
treated to an excellent display of fireworks.
The evening was a resounding success.
PS: Apparently the winery had introduced this
event last year, for one evening. It was
so successful that this year they ran it for two evenings. Given the crowd this year, I bet they could
easily extend the event next year.
PPS: Last week in the Globe and Mail, a brief news
item indicated that the fireworks in India this year were so extensive that the
level of air pollution was at its highest level in history.
