“Durga Puja is an emotion for Bengalis,” says Arpita Roy, who runs The Lunchbox Co. in Mumbai. As Bijoya, the Bengali festive season, comes to a close with Kali Puja on November 4, this sentiment is just as true for those who live outside of Bengal—especially when it comes to celebratory food. As Hungry Cat Kitchen, a Mumbai home chef service posted on Instagram, “This Pujo, we sold nostalgia”.
The lockdowns and job losses of last year gave rise to a wave of home chefs, and Bengali cooks like Roy are at its crest, emerging as one of the most notable regional food trends in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Some started out with Covid relief meals, others found enthusiastic, home-bound customers. Cooking, especially around the 2020 festive season, became an opportunity for many Bengalis outside the state to connect, through food, with larger communities. Under pandemic restrictions, many society pujos were restricted to members, pointed out Sumana Biswas, founder of Petuk Puraan in Bengaluru. She, like many other home chefs, spent their time cooking for others instead. Somma Ghosh of Kitchen Tales, Mumbai was a co-founder of a community pujo, but began a weekend meal delivery last year after cooking meals for migrant workers and staff in her complex.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
YOGI'S NEW NEUTRAL AVATAR
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is into his second term and one of the changes he is ringing in is a softening of the ardent Hindutva warrior image that he has been cultivating all these years.
Why Marital Rape Qualifies as Rape
In the second week of May, the Delhi High Court passed a split verdict on the issue of whether the marital rape exception engrafted in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was constitutional or not.
WHY JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ARE DELAYED
Tardiness driven by a tangle involving collegiums and the Centre characterises the filling up of vacant positions of high court judges. And pending cases pile up inexorably
WHAT ‘IS' INDIAN POETRY?
A milestone and a doorstopper, this ambitious anthology brings together 94 poets whom India can claim as its own
THE CASTE CALCULUS
A NEW MOON BECKONS? CM Nitish and RJD's Tejashwi at the latter's iftar party in Patna, April 22
SORENS IN A MINEFIELD
Jharkhand chief minister Hem ant Soren has some real fire fighting to do in the coming days if he wants to continue in his post. Everything seems to be going wrong at once.
Q+A IN ON THE ACT
One of Indian fashion's brightest stars, Masaba Gupta, 33, is living her childhood dream of acting. This time, she has a part in the Amazon Prime anthology Modern Love: Mumbai
NEW RESOLUTION, OLD CONGRESS
On May 16, a day after the Congress ended its three-day-long Nav Sankalp Shivir in Udaipur, the party witnessed a formal gesture.
BETTING ON THE HINTERLAND
BHUPESH BAGHEL KICKS OFF HIS 2023 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN BY UNDERTAKING A SWEEPING TOUR OF RURAL CHHATTISGARH AND ASSESSING GOVERNMENT WELFARE SCHEMES
BAFFLING BAN
Foreign governments and our own farmers are angry about India’s sudden ban on wheat exports. But high inflation, lower-than-expected yield and procurement forced New Delhi’s hand
The Healthy Habit of Sauca
How cultivating cleanliness inside and out-can bring you peace of mind.
THE CAB RIDE
I sat in the cab on my way to the airport as the driver zoomed over Delhi’s wide roads. The sun was rising over the horizon as a new day dawned – quite literally, as election day approached the city of Delhi.
The Birds of Kanha
RAJESH MENON is a photographer from Delhi, who specializes in images from nature. Here he shares some of the beautiful birds of Kanha Shanti Vanam, the 1300 acre property outside Hyderabad, India, that is the international headquarters of the Heartfulness Institute. It is also a green sanctuary.
BELLANDUR LAKE FROTH - Debasish Ghosh
Bangalore, India, was once known for its interconnected lake systems, which provided a reliable water source. As the city grew, these lakes have encroached, and the water became polluted day by day. The largest, Bellandur Lake, now carry huge volumes of snowy froth, which block the adjacent canals.
Memories
ANIRUDH DHANDA explores the way memories trigger heartfelt events and people from the past, and remind us of situations that evoke emotional responses. Is this what being human is all about?
The Cosmic Chaos of India
Just like the cosmos, when you see India for the first time everything seems chaotic and yet every Indian person finds his/ her own order in that hustle which all goes in tandem. Pavan Rajurkar a freelance illustrator based out of Mumbai, capture this Indianness perfectly in his artworks for many different brands and studios. Some of his recent illustrations have been displayed here.
Doctor of Happiness: An Art Essay
SUKRITI VADHERA KOHLI is the founder of Doctor of Happiness, helping young people with depression and other mental conditions through her art and online platform. Here she speaks with VANESSA PATEL about what inspired her to open up this forum, and what a difference art can make to our well-being.
Dynamic Mumbai
Meet with clients amid the city’s kaleidoscopic sights and sounds.
El derecho a estar segura
Desde que un ataque horrendo conmocionara a India, las mujeres de ese país han demandado -y obtenido- más protección frente al acoso y el abuso en espacios públicos,
Discover The Remnants Of Empires And The Seeds Of Independence In Mumbai
Discover the remnants of empires and the seeds of independence in India’s most populous city.