An Indian Holiday Dinner

It was our friend's birthday today, and my wife and I decided to take her to dinner. In a rather absent minded way, we took her to an Indian restaurant in a New Jersey community highlighted in Joel Garreau's excellent book Edge City (no, not the comic strip). What we didn't realize was that we were in the midst of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights.

For an evening, we were in the midst of Indian family dinner. It was great fun, and the alcohol-free environment was a pleasant change of pace. Our birthday guest enjoyed herself, and realized she had walked into something a little special. While we don't know much more about Diwali now than when we did earlier this evening, all three of us left the restaurant curious about this warm Indian celebration.