His name is Victor, from India, who came to the United States 20 some years ago, did many hard jobs, had some tough times, and now is the owner of a wonderful Indian Restaurant: Coriander Indian Grill & Bar, in Squirrel Hill.
When Sarosh, Alb and I met him for the first time on June 2nd, 2012, we were only there for the drink: Mango Lassi. For some reason, he treated our table with delicious appetizer free of charge. We were greatly flattered. Then we started to chat and had a good time.
Before we left, he told me something with a carefully constrained shyness but apparent frankness that was most humbling. He said, “I admire that you guys had the chance to go to school, learn so many different interesting things, and have a good time. I never went to school for very long and I would say I never enjoyed school while I was still a student. Then I entered into society on my own, started to work, work, and more work. Those jobs were not all easy ones. Now I am happy to run my own business and have everything I've ever wanted. But once every a while, I see fellow like you and I realize then maybe I've missed something.”
I didn’t know how to respond at the time. But in my shoulder bag, I had one of my favorite books, a poetry collection, Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. So after several seconds of self-debate, I took out the book and handed it to Victor, “If you don’t mind, please accept this small gift from a friend you just made who also consider you as her teacher in so many ways.”
Kahlil Gibran said once in his poem on giving “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It’s when you give of yourself that you truly give….It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding….…” Gibran’s words impacted subconsciously upon me in a very powerful way at that moment. Or the openness from Victor, the most generous giving, not just with his food but his thoughts of himself and his willingness to show his vulnerability. He had that impact on anybody receiving it, as it should be. I was the receiver in the first place. As of today, I am still thinking of this encounter and consider him as a friend who inspires me. Who would disagree that he is a giver.
Beer winning trivia @ Indian Food
1. Indian Cuisine is divided into various regional cuisines with each region having a dominant flavor. In Southern Indian cuisine Coconut plays an essential role. As southern India is surrounded by the sea, sea-food is dominant in the cuisine. North Indian food, typically Punjabi food allows a variety of diary based variations in the cuisine. Because of a strong Hindu-Muslim heritage fish, chicken and mutton (Lamb and Goat) are the popular meats. These are cooked in mouth-watering curry or tandoori (roast) style encapsulating the non vegetarian dishes of India. Indian food ranges from mild to very spicy.
2. India's newest biological weapon, the world's hottest chili pepper, or bhut jolokia, is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce, and just a touch on the tongue burns. India’s Army plans to use the chili in tear gas.
Your ID @ Coriander Indian Grill & Bar
Where is Coriander Indian Grill & Bar located?
Samosa is which part of India's food?
What’s your favorite Indian Dish?
Beer winning trivia @ Chinese, Asian Business in Allegheny
ReplyDelete1. Based on the 2007 U.S. Census data that in Allegheny county, Chinese people own about 778 business (272 with paid employee and 506 without) that contains a total of $182,891,000 worth of sales or shipments. Asian Indians own 975 business (375 with paid employee and 600 without) containing a total $706,849,000 dollar value of sales and shipments. Vietnamese ranks number three and has a total of 537 business. In total, Asian owns 3002 business, following Black 5002, and White 82,951.