Seaton Village, Toronto
Japa and Nishdish
Today is the birthday of Balarama, elder brother of Krishna. I have been happily busy, first with delivering a class, live, in person, to our resident devotees, speaking of His amiable character and achievements. At ten am, our time, I gave class via Zoom to a group in Singapore, a half-day behind them. At noon we recorded for a Trinidad crew. Then a live stream for whomever, mostly Canada, wrapped up my day for virtual presentations. It was nice. It was full. It was the mercy of Balarama, who has so much color to his personality.
Rain was part and parcel of today—heavy rain. However, there was a clearing in the early night for getting a walk in. Aisvarya accompanied me along Bloor Street. Our termination point was a set of lights, at his subway stop. There we sat, on a public bench, to chant on our japa beads. It so happened to be right next to a shop called “Japa’s”. Across the street from this eatery is a restaurant called “Nishdish,” run by a renowned chef of an indigenous background. The food he serves is all foraged food.
I need not make fun of this popular place. You can’t knock it, but Nishdish, or some version of it, sounds like a sloppy version of “Krishna Krishna,” when you utter the mantric sound. When you are not so attentive while chanting what is known as japa, you get these silly sounds.
Aisvarya left to catch his train and to my surprise I met Adi Kurma and Amala Ratna,
a well-grounded couple. It was they who told me of Chef Joel Whiteduck Ranguette, of the Anishinaabe tribe (nation). It is so interesting how it all comes together.
May the source be with you!
6 km
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