Tawajjo

As a pahadi who was raised outside Himachal, I always found myself searching for pieces of "home" in the smallest things. Whenever I met people from places similar to mine, there was an instant familiarity—the way they spoke about food, festivals, or cold mornings felt like echoes of my own childhood. Yet there were differences too, sometimes subtle, sometimes sharp, and those differences often felt overlooked because all of us were carrying a quiet kind of homesickness.

In the artwork, the woman stitching green leaves reflects something deeply personal for me. It reminds me of how food traditions were passed down in simple, everyday acts patient hands, repetitive movements, and small rituals that quietly shaped community life. Below her, the man weaving mirrors that same sense of craft and care, just as many regional dishes do. These gestures remind me of how our food binds us, even when we're far from where we come from.

Through familiar dishes like noon chai, Kashmiri bread, patrode, and the grand wazwan, I wanted to capture that feeling of comfort we look for-something warm, shared, and grounding. For me, this piece is not just about regional cuisine; it is about longing, belonging, and the way food becomes a bridge between where we are and where we come from.

In the end, Tawajjo is a small tribute to that shared identity many pahadis carry with theman identity stitched together through memory, tradition, and the tender pull of home.