NEW DELHI: Germans are not only among the greatest Indologists, but are also enthusiastic lovers of Indian food.
This fact was proved again this week as over 4,000 people thronged the Indian Embassy in Berlin, which had opened its doors and organised its first-ever "Food Festival of India" on its venue as part of the events marking India@71, an Indian official said on Thursday.
In addition to Germans, who came in groups defying the occasional drizzles, the event was visited by many other nationalities living in Berlin as well as scores of ambassadors and diplomats from other nations.
German parliamentarian of the Social Democratic Party Michelle Muntefering, who had visited India earlier along with the German Foreign Minister, now Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also paid a visit to the culinary event and congratulated Indian Ambassador Mukta Dutta Tomar.
Minister Personal of the Indian Embassy T.V. Ravichandran, whose vision made the food fest a great success, joined the Indian envoy in stating that encouraged by the overwhelming response the embassy would make this festival a regular yearly event.
The colourful Indian dishes tastefully displayed by the 12 different food stalls representing various regional foods from all parts of India such as the North-East, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala.
The dishes matched the vivid hue of the autumn season when leaves begin to turn yellow and then reddish brown, thereby presenting a wonderful assemblage of their brightness before they bid their seasonal farewell to remind the humans to get prepared for the ensuing winters, Indian-origin poet Rajvinder Singh, who has been living in Berlin since January 1981, said.
In a poetic way, the three-time German poet laureate said the event definitely earned India many more friends who took with them various pamphlets of different regions.
