Food, the great unifier in a diverse country
The way to anyone’s heart is through the stomach. Village Square compiles visuals from across the rural tracts of India highlighting the place of food in the daily life of all Indians.
Sweet treats are put on display at a weekly food market where an onlooker waits for her purchases to be measured and served up. (Photo by Chetan Soni)
In Kashmir, a region with a long history of baking bread, indigenous bakeries are called kandur. Breakfast is incomplete without bread from them, and they offer bread for every occasion. (Photo by Arifa Gani)
Women dressed traditionally roll out soft rotlas (flat bread) for the community. (Photo by Pravinsinh Chauhan)
People enjoy a traditional feast during a religious gathering. (Photo by Sai Saran)
A vendor prepares both sweet and savory fried goodies in anticipation of customers in a village. (Photo by Arindam Das)
A couple undertakes the tedious task of preparing badis (dried lentil balls) using a traditional recipe. (Photo by Arindam Das)
Pearl millet flatbread (bajra no rotlo in Gujrati) is cooked on a chulha (stove). This is a staple food of villages in Gujarat. (Photo by Bee Bhagani)
A vendor prepares matka, a traditional sweet from Bihar. (Photo by Arnab Mitra)
A food seller has these treats in store for those breaking their fast during Eid-ul-Fitr observances. (Photo by Angshuman Paul)
A monk enjoys steaming hot momos at a village food stall near Lepcha Jagat. (Photo by Pranab Basak)
A tribal Lepcha family enjoys hot noodles on a cold morning with a pet. (Photo by Pranab Basak)
The lead image on top depicts Punjabi women making the traditional makki ki roti at the start of the Poh month of the Nanak Shahi calendar, in front of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. (Photo by Arjo Kundu)