Share a dish - Share a story

 

Today I am grateful for and thankful for participating in a virtual event called "Share a dish - Share a story" funded by Woodgreen, supported by TNO and offered by E Heroes. Today's session was hosted and coordinated by Viji Pal and facilitated by Riffat Fatima and Rukhsana Athar. I appreciate and recognize today's session for a variety of reasons, for instance:

• Share a dish - share a story was a remarkable virtual gathering to spark an intergenerational connection between seniors and youth. This session was planned very well such as selection of the recipes, instructions, facilitation and hosted/coordinated by Viji Pal

• All ingredients and supplies were provided yesterday. There were 20+ ingredients in the package including onions, celery, spinach, green chillies, coriander, carrot, bottle gourd, garlic, ginger, cream, tomato paste, chickpeas, oil, turmeric, red chillies, crushed chillies, coriander powder, quinoa and cumin powder.  It was funded by Woodgreen and supported by TNO

• The session was commenced with the land acknowledgment then proceeded with the facilitators. Viji Pal explained today's session with a PowerPoint presentation

• The first recipe was instructed by Riffat Fatima that was creamy quinoa soup. She guided and supervised very well and everyone followed her directions. The soup was ready within 35 minutes. It was so aromatic, appetizing and flavourful

• The second recipe was directed and instructed by Rukhsana Athar. It was Calabash curry made with bottle gourd. The curry was ready within 25 minutes as all ingredients were chopped and ready before this session. Calabash curry was easy to cook, aromatic and delicious

• This was the first time ever in my life I enjoyed cooking with my fellows virtually. My son was holding the camera all the time showing my cooking virtually. Both children were enjoying and assisting me. It was a family fun engagement and get together

• I noticed and realized the sense of belongingness and connectedness with the community. Everyone shared a story linking with ingredients or the recipes such as bottle gourd is used to prepare halwa, kheer, raita, with lentils, with mutton and one person connect with the religious faith. Stories were shared and people got the insight and deep connectivity with the dishes

• The final dishes with garnish were shared and eaten together. I was deeply connected with a session. I noticed giggles n chuckles, joy, pleasure and happiness. Sense of achievement and satisfaction was clearly observed. It was positively affecting mental health, wellbeing and wellness. In the end, there were 3 lucky draws that kept the momentum on all the time

• Personally, I do highly recommend these sessions to the community at this time of the COVID 19. The below picture is my preparations and final dishes

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask or comment below