Last week I had the privilege of sitting down with Sanjay Singh one of the minds behind a cool new event coming to the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market this Saturday called India Day. The conversation that I had with Sanjay was pretty awesome. I expected to be chatting with him for only 15 minutes or so, but I ended up sitting there for over an hour as we discussed the various Indian related events he is a part of. Sanjay is one of those people who has done it all and knows everyone. The “interview” was a ton of fun and very enlightening.

Back to India Day – in a nut shell, the India Day event will transform the Saturday market into an outdoor India themed cultural experience for all to enjoy. There will be all sorts of neat things going on during the market such as classical Indian dancing, live music, and sampling of Indian food. Sanjay said it best, there is going to be “Indian Culture all over the place”.

You’re going to be really excited when you see exactly what all this week’s market has in store for you. The classical India dancing will be presented by Nanda Sane, the president of the Indian Cultural Association of Birmingham, so you definitely don’t want to miss out. Once the dancing is over, you should make your way over to see Pinder Gill, the head chef at Taj India, who will be preparing authentic Indian food using the large array of fresh ingredients available at the market. After you’ve sampled some delicious Indian dishes just browse the market as usual, you’ll end up running into a few venders displaying Indian Art as well as some applying Henna Tattoos. If there was ever a Saturday to attend the market, Saturday August 7th, 2010 is that day. I’ll see you there!

-AS

If you enjoy the Indian theme at this Saturday’s market, you’ll probably also want to know about another India event/concert coming up on Sunday September 5, 2010 at the Birmingham Museum (5.00 p.m. – 7.00 p.m). Performing will be Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt – Mohan Veena (modified Guitar) and Pandit Subhen Chatterjee – Tabla. FYI: Pandit Bhatt is a Grammy Award winner.