The Zaika-e-Nizamuddin Pop-up with ForkTales

We had promised you that we will bring you the Nizamuddin 11…here they are. After training classes that lasted six weeks, the pop up by Zaika-e-Nizamuddin with ForkTales finally happened in March, 2018.

After working with them and knowing them for more than a month, this event, in my heart and mind, was not just about their food. In fact a very small part of it was their food, which just to get facts straight was top notch. It was a month’s journey of drawing them out of their cocoons and then seeing them spread their wings. Eleven women, from Nizamuddin Basti, who juggle household duties, are primary care givers to their adolescent children, young toddlers and elderly parent-in-laws, have jobs as house helps in the bungalows across the road and then find some more time in their 24 hours to start a delivery kitchen and a nutrition project for children.

They were already winners. But even winners need appreciation. Leaders need a pat on their backs. Quiet workers need a moment of standing applause for never giving up. That was what this event was about. We worked with them to create a menu that was ‘hatke’ – different. Different from what all the others serve in Nizamuddin Basti. It took above thirty minutes to get them to understand what we wanted. It wasn’t a problem of communication; it was utter disbelief that what they cook for their families can be of interest to anyone! It took another hour to work out option. Then there was no looking back… I will leave it to you to scroll through the photographs and savour the menu on your screens but take a pause when you reach the proud and beaming faces because today they stood up to their own ambition against all odds and received a standing ovation for being masterchefs and for being women of courage.

Thanks to those who came for it because you have done much more than just come and eat; you became a part of their life story forever. A part of their first pop-up. When I accompanied the women of Zaika-e-Nizamuddin down the short flight of stairs today to meet the guests at the end of the lunch, I was emotional. I felt like a proud parent. And as I posed for countless selfies with them and we hugged each other just one more time before leaving, I felt a bond of sisterhood. Zaika-e-Nizamuddin, you will forever be a part of Social Tables and have a role to play in shaping a bit of us. It was a journey that truly showed us the worth of food. We will have more such stories together.