South Asian Festival : Toronto
Hi friends,
Hope all of you guyz are doing fine!! its been a long while i wrote about something, but then the life is all mundane so dint felt like sharing much.. however we had an South Asian Festival on the famous Gerrard Street here in Downtown Toronto.
Hi friends,
Hope all of you guyz are doing fine!! its been a long while i wrote about something, but then the life is all mundane so dint felt like sharing much.. however we had an South Asian Festival on the famous Gerrard Street here in Downtown Toronto.
It was an amazing experience, the one which makes us proud of being Indian. I felt so Proud to see the native Canadians dressed in traditional Indian(Asian) wear, women dressed in silk kurta-pyjamas, and males in sherwanis, I had a part time job on this street and wasnt in the liberty to click these images as my boss was constantly around me :P, never the less i will try my best to get you in my shoes.
First, let me share some facts,
• The guys here like ThumpsUP more as compare to Coke (We get it illegally in most Indian and Pakistani grocery stores or restuarant)
• The gals are carzy for Fanta, they were craving for it as if it was some gold
• Chats are favored here too, i wonder, how Indian/Asian foods are fast accepted by Canadians.
• Naan was refered as special type of bread.
• Butter Chicken was on everyones mouth.
• Banarasi/Calcutti/Lahori Paans were asked by many, which again amazed me.
• Believe me I saw a long Queue for Kashmiri Tea (made with kesar/saffron and dry fruits)
• Pani Puri stalls were most busy for the entire festivals
• and the most shocking for me, was to see Asians showing more attitude/tantrums than the natives
• The guys here like ThumpsUP more as compare to Coke (We get it illegally in most Indian and Pakistani grocery stores or restuarant)
• The gals are carzy for Fanta, they were craving for it as if it was some gold
• Chats are favored here too, i wonder, how Indian/Asian foods are fast accepted by Canadians.
• Naan was refered as special type of bread.
• Butter Chicken was on everyones mouth.
• Banarasi/Calcutti/Lahori Paans were asked by many, which again amazed me.
• Believe me I saw a long Queue for Kashmiri Tea (made with kesar/saffron and dry fruits)
• Pani Puri stalls were most busy for the entire festivals
• and the most shocking for me, was to see Asians showing more attitude/tantrums than the natives
The surrounding, settings and ambience were perfect, brightly coloured tents on street, the entire street full of crowd and both sides taken over by street food vendors. Not for an instance i felt outside India, the bollywood music of 80s and 90s, Bhangra beats, singing competition, young and beautiful children performing folk dances, there were Bharat natyam, Kuchipudi, Garba, Bhangra some canadians also went up to stage and tried learning these steps :)
The best part was that as we all know how concerned these natives are for hygiene and stuffs, but they act like asians on those days, they bought asian chats/foods and they sat on the brinks of road or wherever they found place some were sitting down on road too.
One thing in particular which was very fascinating was to see the native girls applying heena (mahendi) by professionals on the streets, buying colourful dupattas, bindis and bangles. I particularly could feel the amount of zest and eagerness in them to learn about our culture, our staying. The same kind of feeling was when i visited ISKCON temple here, which had the similar aura.
The best part was that as we all know how concerned these natives are for hygiene and stuffs, but they act like asians on those days, they bought asian chats/foods and they sat on the brinks of road or wherever they found place some were sitting down on road too.
One thing in particular which was very fascinating was to see the native girls applying heena (mahendi) by professionals on the streets, buying colourful dupattas, bindis and bangles. I particularly could feel the amount of zest and eagerness in them to learn about our culture, our staying. The same kind of feeling was when i visited ISKCON temple here, which had the similar aura.
There were some sweets moments too... like a very young 2 year old girls were dressed in traditional wears with Indian Dolls in their hands, old ladies and gentlemen coming inquisitive to know about our cultures and various cuisines. Afghanis, Europeans, Middle East Asians and North Americans all people from different walks of life were present and enjoying this festival, which makes this festival even more realistic to our festivals as we have been like this.
All in all it was a very rich experience with a feeling of pride of being Indian. I guess its because of such diversity and unique tastes that we have a distinct mark in this World.
