What if a simple loaf of bread could tell the story of an entire place, its resilience, its politics and poetry? In this episode of Whetstone Audio Dispatch, host Meher Varma takes us deep into the heart of Srinagar, Kashmir, where the unmistakable aroma of freshly baked tchot leads her to the neighborhood kandur, a traditional bakery that’s far more than just a place to buy bread.Through conversations with bakers, poets, and everyday customers, we uncover how these bakeries, modest structures built of brick and smoke, have become cornerstones of community life, sacred tradition, and resistance. We meet legendary Zareef Ahmed Zareef, who traces the 4,000-year-old roots of Kashmiri baking, and listen to local myths where mystics emerge from tandoors bejeweled and unburned.Whether it’s feeding a neighborhood during a curfew, sharing unspoken trust through pay-later systems, or trading morning news, bread becomes a portal into an unseen Kashmir, one where bread is more than sustenance; it is survival, spirit, and social glue.This episode was made possible by the support of @heirloomcities

Gardening on Water: The Dal’s Ancient Floating GardensFor thousands of years, Kashmir has been called  jannat (heaven) by Urdu poets, travelers, and tourists. The Dal Lake in Srinagar is a jewel in its crown. Flamingo pink lotuses carpet the waters, and shikaras —small wooden boats— row upon it, making the destination a favorite for Instagram-loving  honeymooners. However, deep in the Dal is a world less visible: its floating gardens. In Gardening on Water, Meher Varma, returns with a two-part audio dispatch from Srinagar, introducing us to the political complexities that challenge the reductive depiction of 'Kashmir as heaven on earth.’ Join us as we row you through the majestic and complex world of Dal's Floating Gardens. This episode was made possible by the support of @heirloomcities  

In September 2020, the government of India approved a series of agricultural acts, often referred to as the “Farm Bills.” What was proposed threatened to change the state of agriculture in India forever, and thus, inspired a long farmers' protest that is only just coming to a conclusion (thanks to a recent announcement that confirms the laws have been repealed). This episode tracks my journey to Tikri border — located on the capital’s suburbs — where thousands of farmers lived as they protested the effects of neoliberalism on Indigenous agricultural systems. Cooking with the community and feeding everyone who came to the site (including the police!) was one crucial way in which solidarity was cemented. My guide, and the guest of this show, is the inspirational activist Navkrian Natt, who along with thousands of farmers, resisted injustice with all her heart. Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

In September 2020, the government of India approved a series of agricultural acts, often referred to as the “Farm Bills.” What was proposed threatened to change the state of agriculture in India forever, and thus, inspired a long farmers' protest that is only just coming to a conclusion (thanks to a recent announcement that confirms the laws have been repealed). This episode tracks my journey to Tikri border — located on the capital’s suburbs — where thousands of farmers lived as they protested the effects of neoliberalism on Indigenous agricultural systems. Cooking with the community and feeding everyone who came to the site (including the police!) was one crucial way in which solidarity was cemented. My guide, and the guest of this show, is the inspirational activist Navkrian Natt, who along with thousands of farmers, resisted injustice with all her heart. Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio.

Thanks to the cool-ification of Indian food, traditional ingredients from the subcontinent, like turmeric and ghee, are now repackaged and resold in Western and Westernized markets as if they were “new” discoveries. Cleaned up, minimalistic design labels are often employed to give the familiar and unfamiliar look, and conceal what one can argue is a recolonization of the Global South by the Global North. The U.S.-based academic Rumya Putcha tells us why this hipster Indian food is problematic, while Vidya Balachander, current South Asia editor at Whetstone, helps us unpack the idea of the global supermarket. Topics covered in this episode: Min 1:40: Meet Rumya Putcha Min 2:08: Meet Vidya Balachander Min 3:29: The root of the frustration Min 7:24: Logic of “cool-ification” Min 9:42: Marketing Otherness Min 11:00: Wellness as a form of travel Min 15:56: Displays of diversity in supermarkets Min 18:53: Aesthetics of Otherness Min 21:47: Going beyond outrage Min 25:38: Question of authenticity Min 28:03: No easy answer Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Rumya Putcha (@snailmobile821), Vidya Balachander (@vidya83)

Thanks to the cool-ification of Indian food, traditional ingredients from the subcontinent, like turmeric and ghee, are now repackaged and resold in Western and Westernized markets as if they were “new” discoveries. Cleaned up, minimalistic design labels are often employed to give the familiar and unfamiliar look, and conceal what one can argue is a recolonization of the Global South by the Global North. The U.S.-based academic Rumya Putcha tells us why this hipster Indian food is problematic, while Vidya Balachander, current South Asia editor at Whetstone, helps us unpack the idea of the global supermarket. Topics covered in this episode: Min 1:40: Meet Rumya Putcha Min 2:08: Meet Vidya Balachander Min 3:29: The root of the frustration Min 7:24: Logic of “cool-ification” Min 9:42: Marketing Otherness Min 11:00: Wellness as a form of travel Min 15:56: Displays of diversity in supermarkets Min 18:53: Aesthetics of Otherness Min 21:47: Going beyond outrage Min 25:38: Question of authenticity Min 28:03: No easy answer Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Rumya Putcha (@snailmobile821), Vidya Balachander (@vidya83)

Beginning with a brief history of Tibetans in exile, this episode explores how food can create imaginary homelands, even if it means that authenticity itself needs to be invented and reinvented. Three Tibetans in the diaspora, Jamyang Phuntsok, Tencho Gyatso, and Nima Dorjee, are the guests on this episode. Through conversations that range from personal histories to current food interests, we will talk about gastronomy and memory, tsampa as a potential political tool, and what role food can play for a community in exile. Topics covered in this episode: Min 0:00: The idea of home as connected to food Min 1:42: Meet Jamyang Phuntsok Min 1:58: Meet Tencho Gyatso Min 2:40: Meet Nima Dorjee Min 4:34: An overview of Tibetan food in India Min 6:30: The popularization and adaptation of momos Min 10:09: Politics of tsampa Min 16:32: On authenticity in the context of exile Min 21:05: Chinese influence in Tibetan food Min 23:01: Food and solidarity Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Jamyang Phuntsok (@jongtrukh), Tencho Gyatso (@simplytibetan), Nima Dorjee Ethereal Relaxation by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/8719-ethereal-relaxation License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Beginning with a brief history of Tibetans in exile, this episode explores how food can create imaginary homelands, even if it means that authenticity itself needs to be invented and reinvented. Three Tibetans in the diaspora, Jamyang Phuntsok, Tencho Gyatso, and Nima Dorjee, are the guests on this episode. Through conversations that range from personal histories to current food interests, we will talk about gastronomy and memory, tsampa as a potential political tool, and what role food can play for a community in exile. Topics covered in this episode: Min 0:00: The idea of home as connected to food Min 1:42: Meet Jamyang Phuntsok Min 1:58: Meet Tencho Gyatso Min 2:40: Meet Nima Dorjee Min 4:34: An overview of Tibetan food in India Min 6:30: The popularization and adaptation of momos Min 10:09: Politics of tsampa Min 16:32: On authenticity in the context of exile Min 21:05: Chinese influence in Tibetan food Min 23:01: Food and solidarity Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Jamyang Phuntsok (@jongtrukh), Tencho Gyatso (@simplytibetan), Nima Dorjee Ethereal Relaxation by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/8719-ethereal-relaxation License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In 1947, the British finally left India after 300 years of colonial rule. They created many arbitrary borders as they left, the most prominent of which was the line that was to separate India from Pakistan. The aftermath of this divide resulted in the greatest migration in human history, as millions made their way across hundreds of miles in the hope of creating new homes. The impact of this critical event is mirrored in what has become known as Delhi’s food culture, both at home and abroad. The well-known food historian Anoothi Vishal reminds us how partition lives on in India’s capital, while Jonathan Nunn, editor of the shape-shifting newsletter Vittles, shows us how the event created ripples in the imperial city of London. Partition transformed “Indian food,” in both colony and empire, and still shows its effects in new Indian restaurants today. Topics covered in this episode: Min 0:00: What is Partition? Min 1:35: Meet Meher’s grand-aunt, Jeeti Nani Min 2:30: Meet Anoothi Vishal Min 3:42: From Mughlai cuisine to a dominant Punjabi cuisine Min 8:31: Jeeti Nani’s account of dining practices pre- and post-Partition Min 12:17: Collapse of a feudal order Min 15:14: Meet Jonathan Nunn Min 16:25: Ripple effects of Partition in London Min 21:55: Complexities behind the modern British-Raj aesthetic Min 27:19: Regional cuisines in London beyond Punjabi tandoori food Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Anoothi Vishal (@anoothivishal), Jonathan Nunn (@jonathandnunn)

In 1947, the British finally left India after 300 years of colonial rule. They created many arbitrary borders as they left, the most prominent of which was the line that was to separate India from Pakistan. The aftermath of this divide resulted in the greatest migration in human history, as millions made their way across hundreds of miles in the hope of creating new homes. The impact of this critical event is mirrored in what has become known as Delhi’s food culture, both at home and abroad. The well-known food historian Anoothi Vishal reminds us how partition lives on in India’s capital, while Jonathan Nunn, editor of the shape-shifting newsletter Vittles, shows us how the event created ripples in the imperial city of London. Partition transformed “Indian food,” in both colony and empire, and still shows its effects in new Indian restaurants today. Topics covered in this episode: Min 0:00: What is Partition? Min 1:35: Meet Meher’s grand-aunt, Jeeti Nani Min 2:30: Meet Anoothi Vishal Min 3:42: From Mughlai cuisine to a dominant Punjabi cuisine Min 8:31: Jeeti Nani’s account of dining practices pre- and post-Partition Min 12:17: Collapse of a feudal order Min 15:14: Meet Jonathan Nunn Min 16:25: Ripple effects of Partition in London Min 21:55: Complexities behind the modern British-Raj aesthetic Min 27:19: Regional cuisines in London beyond Punjabi tandoori food Learn more about this episode of Bad Table Manners at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at WhetstoneRadio. Guests: Anoothi Vishal (@anoothivishal), Jonathan Nunn (@jonathandnunn)