Diwali: The Indian Festival of Lights

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.