Keval Kaur Khalsa is director of the Dance Program at Duke University, where she also teaches modern dance and yoga. She has lived in Durham for most of the past 20 years and makes her home near downtown with her 22-year-old son, who recently graduated from college. A practicing Sikh, Khalsa isn’t the type to bar-hop across the Bull City.
“My understanding and practice of the faith is that you want to seek out places that feed your consciousness,” she said.
So you’re more likely to find her biking to the Durham Farmers’ Market or downtown eateries in search of vegetarian and organic fare, theater and film, and yogathings that feed her body and soul.
Wednesday, May 26
9 a.m. Drove to First Baptist Church in Raleigh and the Legislative Building for the People of Color Justice & Unity Legislative Day
This day of lobbying was focused on the current budget planning and pushing HKonJ’s 14-Point People’s Agenda. We met at the First Baptist Church for a briefing and then walked to the Legislative Building for a press conference and lobbying our individual legislators. HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) is a coalition spearheaded by the state branch of the NAACP and has 93 partner organizations. I am a longtime member (and former board chair) of NC WARN, a coalition partner. I’m also a member of NAACP.
Spending time at the Legislative Building, you understand how elected officials can literally become “fat cats.” Hired lobbyists were handing out food with impunitybarbecue and ice cream aplenty!
12:30 p.m. Walked to Sitti restaurant, 137 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh
My first time at SittiI don’t get to Raleigh often. Went with a group of six other activists and ordered the cheese rolls for an appetizer and the Fattoush salad with sweet tea.
2 p.m. Drove to Whole Foods, 3540 Wade Ave., Raleigh
Love their wellness/ body care section!
3:30 p.m. Banking at SunTrust
I frequent several different branches of SunTrust, and I’ve never encountered an unfriendly teller or manager.
4 p.m. Drove to Durham Farmers’ Market, 501 Foster St.
I love the Durham Farmers’ Market! And I love that it is open on Wednesdays.
Bought some beautiful beets with the greens intact, pea shoots, cucumbers, organic salad mix. I make a “green drink” every morning in my VitaMix blender, and beet greens and pea shoots are two of my favorite ingredients.
Thursday, May 27
10:30 a.m. Biked to see my massage therapist, Donna Fulcher, 1200 Broad St., Suite 210, Durham
She uses essential oils as part of her massage therapy. Yum!
12:30 p.m. Biked to Elmo’s Diner, 776 Ninth St., Durham
Busy as usual, so I sat at the counter with no wait. Ordered sweet tea and the daily special, chilaquiles (minus the eggs) and a side of home fries. As the lady next to me said, “Their home fries are crispy and delicioushard to resist!”
1:30 p.m. Biked to One World Market, 811 Ninth St., Durham
I’m not a shopper, but I love this place. Everything they carry is fairly traded, and they have many items made from recycled materials. Got a beautiful piece of Haitian metal art for my new screened-in porch here last month.
2 p.m. Biked to Duke University’s East Campus, where I work as chair of the dance program
8:15 p.m. Drove to Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster St., Durham
Took my son to see God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz. Beautifully directed and excellently acted production! As part of their concessions, they were selling mini-cupcakes for $1. They even had a vegan mini-cupcake!
Friday, May 28
Noon. Biked to work
7:20 p.m. Drove to Carolina Theatre, 309 W. Morgan St., Durham
Saw a free double feature: The Dark Crystal and Army of Darkness. A Dr. Pepper and a box of Junior Mints were $7, but since the movies were free, I really couldn’t complain.
Saturday, May 29
11:30 a.m. Drove to the Durham Farmers’ Market
Even though I got to the market 30 minutes before closing, I managed to pick up salad greens, zucchini, cucumbers, snap peas and green peppers. I love seeing friends here and catching up, and the free Yoga in the Park on the hill next to the market, taught by volunteer teachers at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. I’ll be teaching July 31.
2:30 p.m. Biked the American Tobacco Trail to a friend’s house in Woodcroft. I’ve known about the ATT for a while but only recently started biking it. It’s fabulous. I can get across town in a half hour, and I’m not a fast biker.
7 p.m. Drove to the Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina, 3214 E. Banner St., Durham
This is my regular place of worship. Services are regularly held on Saturday evenings and Sundays, and visitors are always welcome. After service, there is always langar, which is a delicious vegetarian meal cooked by volunteers at the Gurdwara.
Sunday, May 30
11:30 a.m. Drove to the Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina for services
6:30 p.m. Drove to Galaxy Cinema, 770 Cary Towne Blvd., Cary
Not many things will entice me to drive to Cary, but the Galaxy is one of them. I’m a Bollywood fan, and the Galaxy has Bollywood, indie films and feature films. I attempted restraint and ate only popcorn.
Monday, May 31
5:30 p.m. My house in the Morehead Hill neighborhood
I offered a yoga class on my beautiful new screened-in porch. I’m doing a three-class series to “baptize” the new porch as a fundraiser for Y.O.G.A. for Youth. The porch is our new living space! It was built by Aran Construction with cedar posts, has a wonderfully soft pine floor, and a tulip poplar tree grows up through the middle of it.
7:20 p.m. Went for a walk in the Morehead Hill and Forest Hills neighborhoods
We have a mulberry tree right across the street that is just loaded with mulberries. The mimosas are in bloom, and the magnolias are starting to bloom in all their opulent glory.
Tuesday, June 1
11:30 a.m. Drove to Patanjali’s Place Yoga Studio, 700 Foster St., Durham
Owner Bryan Carey taught a beautiful hatha yoga class. The studio has large windows that look out onto Durham Central Park. I loved hearing the children play during part of the class.
2:15 p.m. Drove to Thai Cafe, 2501 University Drive, Durham
One of my favorite eateries! The food is always fresh, and the coconut cake is to die for! Ordered the Thai iced tea (the best!), coconut soup with tofu (also the best) and curried noodles with tofu.
3:15 p.m. Drove to Guglhupf Bakery & Patisserie, 2706 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., Durham
Savored some mint tea and a lemon bar. In my opinion, sitting outside at Guglhupf is the closest thing Durham has to a European café experience.
6 p.m. Drove to Avid Video, 1918 Perry St., Durham
In the age of Netflix, I still like supporting my local video rental shop. I rented Borat (which I’ve never seen) and a Miss Marple murder mystery. My son is positive that I will hate Borat, but I have to find out for myself!
6:20 p.m. Drove to Triangle Center for Contemporary Dance, holding classes at the Duke School for Children on Erwin Road
Dropped off some props for my dance partner and founder of the school, L.D. Burris. Watched a rehearsal for their upcoming performance. Fun!