Thunder Bay, Ontario
A Fall Get Together
If you live in the state of bhakti,
or devotion, then every day is special but if you follow tradition in bhakti,
then it’s special special. By the Vedic calendar Krishna is remembered
this day and it also has something to do with a famous hill called Govardhan.
You can catch some of us saying, “Happy Giri Govardhan” and celebrating this
time with food, especially sweets.
I, for one, I am not big on the
sweets. In fact, since I’ve been in Thunder Bay I’ve stuck to my boiled
asparagus and wraps with hummus and fresh veggies. For the crowd that showed up
at the center to celebrate, members of the community volunteer to cook. Usually
when it comes to numbers the men do the quantitative but it is nice to see a
collective effort in the preparing and packaging of a wholesome meal. There are
students and working folks with their kids that came. When I spoke with
attendees on the Bhagavatam in my hand, I was actually surprised that
one of the food items served in the original feast five millennia ago was a
prep called supa, which is a vegetable broth. In other words, “soup.”
No doubt the talk also contained
philosophical content, and we didn’t only indulge in food in word or
consumption. The festivity involved an arati, or offering, with lamps,
song and dance. One of the members, Rajini Agarwal, won in the election the
previous day as city council at large and came to expressed gratitude over the
mic. Also, the mayor, who was set to come, Ken Boshcoff, didn’t quite make it
but has attended our event previously with enthusiasm. Oh, and fireworks,
outdoors, concluded the fest.
May the source be with you!
4 km
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