Minor Project in Design Storytelling: Photo Essay
I am a Kiwi born-Indian and although I haven't visited Gujarat, India, in over 13 years to visit my grandparents, and have a vague memory of this visit. I will always remember my grandmother's cooking, the experience, the location, and the mouth-watering meal. A hard-working woman busy in the kitchen, the pressure cooker whistle going off numerous times; spicy aroma filling every corner of the room; and a bubbling rich curry. She is ordering jobs to everyone in the Gujarati language, the rickshaw horns in the distance were one to remember. Even if Gujarat is 12,626km away, the one thing that keeps me grounded, and gives me this same sense of place that I had in India, is having the same experience here in New Zealand, instead of with my mum in the kitchen doing the exact things as her mother. The morning prayer and food offering to the Hindu gods to bless the day, following by multiple meals throughout the day. The nostalgia consumes me and makes me feel at home. I can't help this feeling of having another home beyond my birth country, my cultural background, whether its cultural food; traditional attire; or beliefs in the Hindu gods, it is always going to be my "sense of 'home' wherever I go."
Morning prayer
Aromas of spices included in breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Dinner prep (Dum Aloo)
Naan making
Before meal prayer
