HOUSTON: The previous two days had seen a steady downpour with localized flooding across the Bayou City, with the rain stopping the afternoon before, so it felt doubtful that the annual Vaisakhi Khed Mela would take place on rain-soaked grounds. Undeterred, the organizers marched on and by the time the crowds started coming in, their optimism was proven right and they had the stalls up!
Some years earlier, realizing that the grounds could be uneven for the races and volleyball matches held every year, the Gurdwara officials had astroturf installed over a large area and this foresight has saved the day for the Mela before too, as it did on Sunday, April19 for the 11th Annual Vaisakhi Khed Mela at the Sikh National Center on the North Sam Houston Tollway.
For Sikhs, Vaisakhi has a special significance as the day in 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh laid down the foundation of the Panth Khalsa and the five K’s which are sacred tenets of the faith. But in the Punjab, it is also a harvest festival coinciding with the Spring equinox and is celebrated with much gusto, especially in villages across the Punjab and North India, with melas, dances and lots of food.
As in previous years, the completely free event was open to the public and was sponsored by the generosity of so many people who have worked hard to make the SNC a reality. The fun began after the religious ceremonies and acknowledgements of various dignitaries were completed inside the Gurdwara building, which was inaugurated just last year.
An estimated 4,000 people came to the SNC site under bright, blue skies and crisp weather to the completely free event to meet and greet, pray and enjoy food and games. The large concrete parking lots were full and many of the stream of cars parked in the lots of adjoining buildings.
The wide expanse was the site of all the fun games for the younger children, like the tug-of-war; 50 meter race, 3-legged race, sack race, spoon race and basketball. On the far side of the racing field and volleyball court, a row of spectators watched; while others cooked hot jalebis, pakoras, gol gappe, chaat, dahi bhalla and fresh mango juice for a unending line of people.
Most of the free food in the stalls was donated by those working the stalls, including many sevadars of the SNC, manchurian by Baljeet Singh’s restaurant; pakore from Raahi restaurant; Jalebi by Tandoori Hut restaurant; dosa by Mirch Masala restaurant; sweets by Najjar Singh; milkshake and chat by Laddi Kaura and drinks by Sohanlal Singh and team.
In fact, there were huge lines in front of each stall, which ran out of food by 3pm which showed that the Mela is a victim of its own success! For future meals, a few solutions would be to have more stalls, more pre-prepared and packaged food, more tables for people to sit and eat at and frequent trash pickup crews.
Off to the other side, a carnival atmosphere took care of the whims of the younger tykes with inflatable moon walks and slides and farm animals petting zoo. And a safe distance away, stalls served cotton candy at one end and ice cream.
