Only in L.A. would you find a Masonic temple next door to a Hare Krishna Cultural Center...
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness... I was spending the afternoon in downtown Culver City and remembered the lovely Govinda's Gifts which is next door to ISKCON on Watseka off Venice Boulevard...
It's that time of year when the old wardrobe needs a jolt... It's still too cool for linen skirts but getting too warmish for bulky coats and sweaters... My paisley scarves are my second skin, so I thought some new colors might beat the late winter closet blues... I found exactly what I wanted at Govinda's...
My knowledge of Indian culture so far is limited to the amazing food on the Westside like Samosa House and getting my eyebrows threaded at Ziba... And watching the animated story of "Krishna" introduced me to the azure-skinned, butter-stealing imp that grew up to be a Hindu deity... So browsing through the shop was another plunge into the iconography of the culture with a healthy dose of Westside hippy-ness mixed in...
When I paid for my new wrap, the ladies who were running the shop cordially invited me to eat at the Sunday feast across the street... I demurred at first, thinking it was some religious holiday that might be sacrilegious for me to take part in... But they were so nice about it - and I remembered a meal I had several years ago at the complex's restaurant, a vegan masterpiece of spicy stewed vegetables and a memorable sort of crumbly bread pudding called havalah... I said I was meeting people for dinner and they said to take it home with me... With such insistent kindness, I had to accept...
I walked across the street to another building they had indicated through the window and found a sort of community hall... A gentleman wrapped in a sort of cloak and tunic was handing out sectioned paper plates at the door and bid me a "Hare Krishna"... I smiled and sort of bowed - I don't know where that came from, guess I just try to encompass all protocols when in doubt - and went inside...
There were rows of tables with a rainbow of people eating at them... Very few of them were actually Indian and as far as traditional garb went, the Caucasian participants were the most decked-out... At two stations on either side of the room, volunteers were dishing up rice, an eggplant stew, the much desired havalah, batter-dipped cauliflower and panipuri... A man at a table in the middle was dispensing fresh-squeezed strawberry and orange juice into paper cups...
I was really tempted to sit down and eat while the food was hot, but my family was waiting with our friend Rodney who was out on business from Seattle and food that Jolene brought home from Tasty Garden in Alhambra... Trying to be polite to everyone there - people who actually made eye contact and smiled at you, a rare commodity in the city - I "Hare Krishna-ed" my way out of the building, hoping I was not breaking any rules... Although I generally never use either expression, it seemed less corny than responding to "God bless you" out of the context of a sneeze... And amusingly, I remembered that one of the cashiers at Govinda's did say something like, "Bless you" when I sneezed through my incense-loaded nose...
As I walked back to my car, I stopped in front of the main ISKCON building where it appeared that a worship service was taking place with emanating music and colorful dioramas visible from the open doors... There was a man selling books sitting in front of the building...
Channeling my best Huell Howser (without the sweatstained polo shirt), I asked him what the feast was for... He told me that he and his fellow parishioners (would that be right word?) believed that food should be free and that closed Govinda's Restaurant early on Sunday nights in order to serve a dinner like this for the public... I asked him the names of the various dishes on my paper plate and what could people do to contribute besides donating a few dollars for a lovingly prepared meal, despite its volume... When my sheepish curiosity was satisfied, we wished each other "Hare Krishna" and I went on my way...
When I got home, I shared my bounty with Rodney and my family... We Skyped his family back in Seattle, and tried to entice them to come to L.A. if his work here took a little longer so that his wife Lee could get a scarf like mine and enjoy a vegan dinner at ISKCON with her their two little girls... To bring it a little closer to home, I added a little personal embellishment to my new faux pashmina, courtesy of our engineer friend...
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