By John Reid Blackwell - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
Saturday, October 14, 2006
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Saturday, October 14, 2006
Festival of Punjab offers delights
By John Reid Blackwell - Richmond Times-Dispatch
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
Sunday, April 2, 2006
On weekdays, Dr. Gurpal S. Bhuller is an orthopedic surgeon. Yesterday, he was a reciter of mystic Sufi poetry and a server of samosas and chicken biryani.
The dishes were among a cornucopia of Indian foods - some spicy and some not - served during the Festival of Punjab at the Cultural Center of India in Chesterfield County. The poetry, written by the 18th-century Islamic poet Bulleh Shah, who was also from Punjab, was part of the festival's entertainment and reflected its cultural diversity.
About 2,000 people were expected to attend the fourth annual Festival of Punjab, or Punjabi Mela, which celebrates the food, music, dance, and art of the state in northwest India whose name means "Land of the Five Rivers."
As the festival's opening prayer showed, the Indian community includes people of many faiths. During the prayer, children stood on the cultural center's stage holding placards with the symbols of Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. "In this country, we have got to learn that we are part of a global culture," said Bhuller, who has lived in the United States for 26 years. "It will make this country a much richer place, not monetarily, but in the wealth of resources we have."
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