WORDS and PHOTOS Natilee McGruder
February is Black History Month and I went into my most recent interview thinking about what that meant to me. As a young black female raised in Montgomery by a father who grew up in West Montgomery during the Civil Rights Movement, I have always had a strong sense of pride in what people of all colors were able to accomplish with blood, sweat, tears and prayers in our fair city. For me, the significance of any history month is the opportunity to look at our collective history, the history of humanity, colored by a particular lens, which lends us new perspective and nuance.
I have always been a reader and history lover, because early on I understood that history is simply the story of a group of people, during a certain time, that we can learn from today. Unfortunately, the weighty gift of creating the historical narrative falls to the “victor” which generally has meant: the “winner” of the war, the person who survived to tell about it or the person(s) with the access to the resources and the political power to do so. Many stories are left out and many more left virtually unexplored, as they are deemed “less” important because of the main characters, the end result, or the message it would send to the comfortable masses. Lerone Bennetts, Jr.’s, Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America should be a required text for all American students, while Howard Zinn’s, A People’s History of the United States is an excellent example of history told with the dominant narrative turned on its head (available for you to read, free online!).
The connection between the story of India and that of Montgomery may seem to be a stretch on the surface, but, as with any history, they are connected. One such connection is Martin Luther King’s deep inspiration from Mohandas K. Ghandi and his nonviolent teachings. King traveled to India in April 1959 after devouring Ghandi’s writings. Before he left the country he said,“[s]ince being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.” He then brought back strategies for nonviolent resistance to the marginalized poor in the Deep South and all over the US via the Civil Rights Movement.
A more recent Montgomery-India connection is that of the recently returned restaurant, India Palace. Surat Singh, Amandeep Singh and Dr. Sandeep Virk all hail from the northwest region of India called Punjab, which is home to the world’s largest population of Sikhs. Together the men bring an incredible value to Montgomery through their commitment to quality Indian “slow food” and their adherence to the Sikh faith. Sikhs believe in equality of humankind, universal brotherhood, and one God. In the words of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak, the “Realization of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living.”
Truthful living is what allowed the re-opening of India Palace in Vaughn Road Plaza to be met with crowds the very first week, who, when given apologies from Sandeep regarding their wait replied, “Don’t worry. We know your food is worth the wait!” India Palace is run in partnership by Amandeep and Sandeep (who during the day is an internal medicine doctor at Jackson Hospital). The real heart of the operation, however, is in the kitchen: Amandeep’s father, Surat Singh. Surat came to the United States from India in 2001 and proceeded to cook and train as a chef in Atlanta and Tuscaloosa until he was able to open India Palace in its original location off McGhee Rd. His son, Amandeep came from India to run the restaurant with his father in 2007 and then moved again with his father when they decided to try for the greener pastures of Pensacola, Florida. After closing their Montgomery doors in 2012, they opened a successful restaurant there of the same name that still exists, but soon found themselves gravitating back to Montgomery.
In the very brief moment I was able to steal Surat away from his beloved kitchen, he explained via Sandeep that he loves the Montgomery people and that everyone is so happy they have returned. Amandeep echoes this sentiment: “people here love the food and we could have chosen to go anywhere after Pensacola, but we chose to come back to Montgomery because of the people.” The father and son team returned from Pensacola, partnered with Sandeep, and moved to a bigger and better location to start their new chapter in a city that has shown them so much love. Sandeep also noted that overhead costs and the cost of living in Florida made returning to Montgomery an easy decision to make.
The biggest challenge for India Palace is that many people in Montgomery have never tried Indian food and have a limited perspective on the cuisine. In his practice at Jackson, Sandeep always encourages the Indian food uninitiated to come try the lunch buffet and after some hesitation they usually do. When I asked Sandeep about his thoughts on Black History Month and whether it had any personal value to him, he said “it does matter. Everyone has their stereotypes and we need to be more involved with each other.” One thing he would change about Montgomery is the lack of opportunities to meet different kinds of people. He says that here, “people don’t mix much” and that should be changed through education at an early age and opportunities throughout the city to meet and interact with one another. These are sentiments that were true in King’s day and remain an issue for us to tackle together as one United Montgomery.
Visit Amandeep, Surat and Sandeep at India Palace located at 2801 Vaughn Plaza Road, Suite E in the Vaughn Road Plaza near the Vaughn Rd and Eastern Boulevard intersection. Phone: 334-245-9340. Closed Mondays, open every other day of the week from 11:00am to 2:30pm and 5:00pm-9:30pm, 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. Weekend buffet includes goat meat and gulab jamun.