The Attic

One of my favorite things that we did in Delhi was go to two English-language cultural events at a place called the Attic. It is a little performance/more space attached to a charity/trust.

The first event was a play A Brown Monkey Goes to McDonalds. It was about an India who moved to America and his experience between two cultures. Ironically, he was in Ithaca, New York for high school the same time I was there for grad school. I almost gave a shout out "yeah, Ithaca!" when he mentioned swimming in waterfalls and not being able to get fresh hummus. But then I realized you can get fresh hummus in Ithaca. Then I realized that hummus is not even Indian so I was confused. But still it was good.

Then the next day we went to a food meditation. There was a short talk by a biodynamic, organic farmer followed by a meal of food from his farm, which we ate in silence. Eating in silence is really interesting and worth trying. It forced me to think about every bite, the textures, flavors and history of the food. Perhaps otherwise I would think about the food briefly, but here every bite got its own attention. Half of me thought that I should do food mediation regularly, but half of me does not like the idea at all, and I am not exactly sure why. Maybe it is good for me but feels weird or maybe I think food is best enjoyed as a social gathering.

The question and answer session was interesting. The questions were split between the science and technical details of organics, and the ritual side. There was considerable discussion about the inverted pyramid containers that are filled with dried dung and burned every night while a mantra is recited. The debate seemed to be if it is specified that they should be copper or if the exact metal is less important than the depth/angles of the inverted pyramid walls. In any case, the food was full of flavor and the discussion interesting.

Josh