LIFESTYLES: Thanksgiving with a Masala twist

The crisp brown and orange leaves scattered on the street and the nip in the breeze whisking through the neighbourhoods heralds the festivities of Thanksgiving. That can mean different things for different people.
When I was young and would watch the thanksgiving episodes on TV, I would find it fascinating to watch the perfect family gatherings, door bell ringing, guests arriving, warm hugs and kisses exchanged and everyone politely going around the table explaining what they were thankful for. The sumptuous spread on the dinner table could feed an African family for a month.
Well in our families, Thanksgiving did not exactly follow the YTV script. We got together with families and friends as well but from there on things looked different. In preparation, my mom would be in a nice fall color Indian Salwar suit and her chunni (scarf) would be off whenever she was in the kitchen to avoid any spills and splashes of food. My father would be filling up the ice box and getting the alcohol bottles ready for the men. My brother, well let’s say just his main task was keeping the X-box warm for the incoming friends. I usually would be helping my mom set the buffet counter because in keeping with brown tradition we invited more guests than the dinner table space. Our guests would arrive an hour or two late. Instead of turkey, we would have curry.
My mom would be in the kitchen with all the other women who would be helping her with the last minute reheating of the different platters of food. The boys would all be playing video games and all the girls would be gathered in my room where we would catch up on each other’s lives. My dad and his friends definitely had their own twist on Thanksgiving: Cracking jokes, classic Hindi music and of course Johnny Walker Black. The children and women ended up eating first and the men last.
Our take on the holiday may not have been the white picket fence type, but I appreciated our Thanksgiving even if it was with a Masala twist.
Ray Ray, Just another Brown Girl

Tags: Thanksgiving