Yesterday we went up to the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Val-David, QC, about an hour north of Montreal, for their semi-annual open house. About 100 people showed up, a record turnout I’m told. While my wife was busy taking care of some of her Yoga students, I convinced my daughter and Mr. Italo to make the trek up the Mountain Trail to the Hindu temple at the top. They grudgingly agreed, complaining most of the way up the several hundred steps that they wanted coffee, “for this I left the comfort of my bed”, etc., etc.

Once at the top we were distracted by a cacophony of voices, and as we approached we realized that about 30 people were already at the mountain top, setting up large cauldrons and frying pans over open wood-fires. It turned out that several Sri Lankan families from Toronto were sponsoring a “puja” or blessing, in honor of a religious festival. We discretely approached and asked permission to take some photos. Everyone was very welcoming and took great pains to tell us about what they were doing. We were brought sweetened tea and proceeded to make friends, promising to email them the pictures. We were drooling over the food; my daughter and Mr. Italo felt that we might be intruding and wanted us to make our way back to the ashram. I approached one of the men who appeared to be in charge and asked if we were in the way or intruding. “No, no, no….please join us…the food will be ready soon and we need people to eat it, otherwise we will have to bring it all back with us to Toronto!” he said. The fix was in!

Once the food was ready, we went into the temple where the priest proceeded to perform a brief ceremony and blessing. Then it was time to eat! As guests, we were served first….heaping plates of sticky saffron rice, vegetable curry, and phenomenal spicy fried dumplings. The more the cooks saw that we liked the food, the more they brought and heaped it on our plates. It was absolutely delicious. The only problem was walking back down the mountain with our overstuffed bellies.

As we were preparing to leave several people came over to thank us for participating! Thank us!!! Wonderful people and a terrific time.

Camera: Leica MP with Summilux 35/1.4, and Portra 400 film.