Looking back, it can only have been back at international school in Singapore that I first learned to associate religious festivities with food rather than faith.
After all, what with Diwali, Eid, Moon Day, Chinese New Year and the rest all serving as annual occasions for the faithful kiddies in the class to bring in the appropriately themed confectionary items to mark the day, it was only to be expected that my religious affiliations would veer wildly over the course of the year in accordance with the various goodies on offer at any given event, before – in the face of this intellectually overwhelming cultural / religious diversity – dwindling over time to virtually none whatsoever by the tender age of eleven.
A couple of decades on and I am still a confirmed (some might even say militant) atheist, but certainly not one averse to partaking in religious festivities, so long as I get something nice to eat in the process… 🙂
And so it was that the girls and I set forth last Saturday to the Mother Tereza Community Centre at Háje to help celebrate Diwali by means of watching lots of energetic Bollywood / bhangra style dancing, eating lots of yummy Indian food, and drinking several more glasses of wine between us than is really appropriate for any religious event – other than Christmas of course… 🙂
Apparently this is an annual Prague event organized by the Bhangrat Sangh organization and sponsored primarily by various Indian restaurants around town, but for one reason or another I’d not made it over in previous years, so was quite intrigued to see what it would be like this time round.
Catering in this case was organized by Punjabi Food, whose fast food outlets can be found at Tesco Eden, OC Letňany and DBK Praha.
Not ever having been out to any of these mall locations myself, I can’t say I know how the fare on offer this evening compares to what Punjabi Food normally serves – but with a couple of hundred people (mainly from the Prague Indian community) in attendance on this occasion, there was certainly plenty of it!
I for one was overjoyed just to see a tray of barfi type sweets at the door – a nice reminder of my Delhi days, when a day without at least one trip to the Indian confectionary would invariably send me into a downward spiral of sugar-deprived grump.
While we were waiting for the performances to start, Prague Ginge and I split a vegetable samosa and potato cake (25 CZK each) between the two of us.
These were really stodgy and delicious, and went really well with the tamarind, mint and coconut chutnies also on offer.
They also had a trayful of tandoori chicken out, which definitely looked and smelled very nice, but we had our eye on some of the mains on offer for later, so refrained for the time being.
Only after we’d enjoyed a few rousing dance acts in the main hall (not been able to get this one out of my head since!) with the rest of the girls did Prague Ginge and I re-emerge in search of further sustenance.
An easy compromise was reached here, with Prague Ginge going for the vegetarian thali (100 CKZ) and me the meat one (120 CZK), and both having a taste of each other’s here.
I won’t say it was the most inspiring curry I’ve ever eaten in my life, but hey – this was mass catering, and for the price I for one certainly wasn’t complaining! Prague Ginge and I really enjoyed the flavour of the rice and the thick raita / chapatti combination, with the spicy dhal and (admittedly rather garishly coloured) chicken tikka masala also going down particularly well with both of us too.
More than sated at this point, we re-joined the girls in the audience for another few rounds of spirited song and dance (are you reading this dance troop leader, Om Sasidharan? – we all have a bit of a crush on you now), finally departing at the end of the evening all having had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
My thanks go out to the event organizers and attendees for a genuinely fun evening and warm welcome for all – I may not be a Hindu convert as yet, but this time next year I’ll still definitely be celebrating (not to mention eating) with you again!! 🙂
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Dobrou Chut' 
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