JEDDAH, 12 September 2005 — Colorful roses and a variety of food were the highlights of an India festival at the Jeddah Trident Hotel on Saturday night. “All the roses on display were from Bangalore, the garden city of India,” said Mahmoud Fateh Skiou, whose establishment is a regular importer of fresh-cut roses, flowers, and foliage from Indian cities including Ajmer and Pune. Six types of roses of different colors were displayed at the show which opened along with a food festival entitled “Culinary Journeys of India.”
Up to 150,000 rose stems are imported every month here from the Indian cities, said Ismail Ali Sayed, marketing manager of the establishment. Roses in six colors including dark pink are now being grown in the Kingdom, especially in Tabuk and Taif.
Citizens and expatriates were present in large numbers to taste more than 100 dishes that were presented at the food festival jointly organized by the Consulate General of India and the Saudi Indian Business Network (SIBN). On offer at the two-week food festival are delicacies from Uttar Pradesh, Mughlai from Delhi, Hyderabadi from Andhra Pradesh, and a selection of items from Kashmir, Kerala, Goa and West Bengal, said Hotel General Manager Chander Nain.
“We’ve plans to introduce a fusion of international dishes. Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Continental and Indian dishes will be blended to offer new selections of dishes,” said Nain who has already begun preparations for Ramadan.
Indian Consul General Ausaf Sayeed welcomed the guests. He said this was the first time that the India festival had been organized by the consulate in association with sociocultural and business organizations such as India Forum, Indian Pilgrim Welfare Forum, SIBN, major Indian international schools and over 50 other expat cultural organizations representing different regions of India.
In addition, some academic, literary, cultural and technical sessions have been scheduled in order to emphasize the range of India’s heritage and abilities. The consulate, SIBN and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Jeddah chapter, are hosting a technical seminar, “Investment and Taxation in India” for foreign investors, non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) at the hotel at 7.30 p.m. today.
The festival will feature the “Golden Jubilee Mushaira” on Sept. 15 at the International Indian School (boys section) auditorium. To facilitate the collection of invitation cards, the consulate has on its website — www.cgijeddah.com — a special page providing the names of community members who can collect the cards on Tuesday (Sept. 13) and Wednesday (Sept. 14) between 5.15 p.m. and 8 p.m.
