New Stories For A New Year
Photo collage: Alexandra Bowman
Happy New Year, readers!
In the blink of an eye, it has already been nearly one year since we started Whetstone South Asia. We have spent this time slowly and patiently accruing stories, which is really the only way to build the kind of wealth that matters. I strongly believe that stories are a source of resilience; they lend us the lexicon with which to parse the past, process the present and prepare for the future.
I imagine that it was steadfast faith in the validity of their story that allowed Indian farmers from Punjab and Haryana to lead a year-long protest against three farm bills that they believed would be detrimental to their future. The sustained, well-organised protests recently bore fruit, with the Indian government revoking these farm bills in Parliament. (Stay tuned for an update).
Equally, as we learned during the brutal second wave of Covid that swept through most of South Asia, stories serve as insurance against the fleeting, flawed nature of memory itself. The #BakeForIndia project was a bittersweet reminder that dessert could be an unlikely repository of strength during a pandemic, even as it exposed a glaring lack of governance.
From the representation of hands that cook and how it is coloured by gender, caste and class to the moral policing behind India’s ban on dog meat, our stories so far have attempted to redefine—or at least gently question—the contours of food writing and how it ought to be defined. We have also celebrated the diversity of bhortas, the tang of ou tenga, the bounty of the garden and the artistry of goyna bori.
As Jonathan Nunn noted in a recent instalment of his brilliant newsletter Vittles, it is nearly impossible to contain South Asian food within strictly drawn contours.
“When cuisine doesn’t adhere to national boundaries, when it seeps across borders, categories can only be arbitrary,” he writes.
The stories from this diverse, unwieldy and ultimately, fascinating, part of the world seem to tumble and flow into one other, connected by their shared histories. Seeing them as a whole while keeping their strands separate is both a challenge and a profound joy, and I am grateful for your generous support so far.
In the months to come, we hope to keep pushing the envelope of culinary storytelling and extend its scope beyond the written word. We have ambitious plans—not all of which I can reveal yet—but believe me when I say that we’re just getting started.
Write to us, pitch us your boldest, brightest ideas, and don’t forget to strap yourselves in — it’s going to be an exciting ride!
With gratitude,
Vidya Balachander
