Yesterday afternoon I attended the Annual Sikh Day Parade/Festival, held downtown on 24th Street & Madison Avenue. I wound up at this festival because a few years ago I got a really interesting email from my friend Bev Carter, who explained how SHE stumbled upon this festival last year I think. The email went something like this:
With working this tax season I almost forgot my favorite cultural NYC experience. Sikh Day is this Saturday April 26 and the food is served in the park at 23rd and Madison. All Indian, all vegetarian, also desserts, fruit, juice, tea, etc., all blessed. Most of you know all about it from my past emails. For those of you that are new I added my 2005 email below. I have returned to this event in 2006 and 2007. And as with my first encounter, when I said enough, the shoved more food into my bag. But the difference was I had a big empty bag this time. Also I have to say the nicest bunch of people I have met in a huge crowd in my life and I love the colors the women wear, like a sea of flowers flowing in the wind. The men are gorgeous. I sit and eat and watch the men go by. One year we went around 1:00PM and the pickings were slim. Last year I was there 10:30AM.
Go hungry and take a big bag. The Girl Scout Motto -- Be prepared!
Anyway....prepared I was when I met Bev & a friend of hers in front of the Sprint store at 11am...I was a little put off by the threat of rain but the skies were pretty clear that morning. We realized immediately that we were a little early (because most of the vendors where just arriving and still setting up) and decided to go and check out some of the thrift stores lining 23rd street....(uh...note to Salvation Army....ya'll are kidding right???? Who's gonna pay $2000.00 bucks for an old school giant screen tv from THE SALVATION ARMY?????) Not when you can take that SAME 2G's and buy a NEW ONE with a FLAT SCREEN???? Duh.
lol...there shouldn't be ANYTHING AT the Salvation Army that cost $2000.00. Sorry.
But I digress...lol....after about an hour of checking out used stuff...we walked back to the festival, which was now in full swing!! On our first pass we just filled up our plates and ate......lol....A lot!
Samosa's, curried veggies, rice, fruits, ice cream, juices, sodas, water....you name it they had it. The food was hot and delicious and the people were as friendly as they come....all dressed in traditional clothing in the most beautiful and vibrant colors.
After we finished eating we paused briefly while Bev partook in a rousing game of "Miss Mary Mack" with one of the children....it was hilarious watching us BOTH relive our childhood's with this little girl (Sigh....you hardly EVER see the kids today actually BEING KIDS....)
And then it was back to the vendors....with shopping bags (Miss Bev brought ziploc bags...I ain't mad at her) and by the time we finished we had so much stuff to take home that the bags were making my shoulders hurt!!! It was amazing....it was hard getting anyone to take "no" for an answer....("dude...no, really....I have no need for 9 bananas...I don't eat them like that"...lol).
We left the festival at around 3pm, exhausted and completely satiated. I had a blast and I heard that my girl Bev had the equivalent of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bomb coming out of her butt the next day.....ROFLMAO!!!!
Indian food is VERY spicy and I LOVE IT!!!!
I will totally be there next year if my schedule allows. If there is a hungry soul in the city on the day of this festival....there is no need to be hungry on this particular day.....clean yourselves up as best you can and come and eat your fill, bring a few shopping bags and get your blessings at the same time. They will welcome you with open arms....I promise you.
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."
No comments:
Post a Comment