- What curiosities inspired you to create Via Dil?
I don’t passionately care about food and eating, so I only made the food I was craving during the pandemic. Someone, who saw my food photos on Instagram, asked me to cook something she was craving but couldn’t access, as a joke. So I did. Seeing photos of it and discussing it gave her so much joy, that I decided to ask more people who are away from their loved ones, from favorite restaurants, who were living and reliving memories, for food requests. I also hoped that it would help me fix my relationship with food and consumption. It was supposed to be a 6-9 posts long project, but the response was so overwhelming that it spun off into its own thing. - How do you feel each time someone shares their food story with you?
So warm! like someone bear-hugged me. One time while reading a story, I realized that I hadn’t been breathing. That is how excited I get. Each story is a borrowed experience that takes me on a journey through time and space, to inhabit a different lives. - What motivates you to present these stories to the world?
A few years ago, when I was suffering from depression and anxiety, I was convinced that I was the only one bearing such heavy suffering.
One day I came across a blog speaking of the author’s experience of a break-up, which wasn’t comparable to my situation. Yet, it helped me feel less lonely. That feeling was big for me. The pandemic makes people feel lonely, scared and suffocated. I know people who are living alone and struggling with basic things like cooking, companionship and boredom. With every story, I hope to make them feel like they are not alone. - Could you share with the nook one of your favorite experiences from the project so far?
After I put the Gulab Jamun story up, the contributor called me. We spoke about our grandmothers until both of us had tears in our eyes. Another time, someone told her father about Via Dil, who got excited and contributed too. I cooked with someone virtually, so we could rewrite some bad memories attached to that food for her. People have been asking for recipes, sending me photos. People I have never spoken to before! All of it has been wholesome. - An online project that you find fascinating.
Dilliwala has a project which has people write their own obituaries. I love reading those.
