Food has become such an integral part of our lives that we almost tend to forget to appreciate it. Every dish, and the bewitching world it carries within it, deserves to be explored poetically. Grace, a poetess, does this with her breath-taking and mouth-watering poems on ‘Chai Lines’, in conversation with RJ Shilok and RJ Vybhavi.
“I breathe poetry and fall in love with food,” says our toastmaster. RJ Shilok sits at the edge of her seat, her stomach rumbling, hungry for poems. Grace doesn’t disappoint. With her poems, she gives us a vantage point to the world of food by anthropomorphizing them. “Food is the connect to the heart,” she says, before taking us all on a tasty ride. Her poems celebrate dosa, mangoes, pop corn and pani puri. She makes listeners long for food.
Astonishingly, Grace talks about serious social issues as seamlessly as she expresses lighter themes. In her poem ‘Phulkas’, she speaks about the life of a poverty-stricken woman who immerses herself in cooking to distract herself from her difficulties. “Along with chappati, her world spins.”
Grace ends the show by surprising RJ Shilok with a poem on Madoor Vada. Celebrating hundred years of Madoor Vada, she glorifies the authenticity of the dish.
In the interview, Grace reminiscences about her childhood through memories of Bengali food. “Memories are like pickles,” she says, to convey that food is a huge part of the human cultural identity and emotional connections.
Listen in…
Written by Vybhavi Adiga.
