1.0ALiGN: Alternative Global Network Media Lab/aligncuthemeedtr5/align/author/cuthemeedtr5/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="ecFttlbgWc"><a href="/align/2019/growing-up-in-a-bengali-kitchen/">Growing up in a Bengali Kitchen</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="/align/2019/growing-up-in-a-bengali-kitchen/embed/#?secret=ecFttlbgWc" width="600" height="338" title="“Growing up in a Bengali Kitchen” — ALiGN: Alternative Global Network Media Lab" data-secret="ecFttlbgWc" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=/align/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> /align/wp-content/uploads/sites/121/Screenshot-2019-09-01-14.44.05.png600328In this paper, I share how as an immigrant in Canada, I felt detached from my home country of Bangladesh in my early years due to a desire to assimilate into dominant Canadian culture. As I grew older, I actively sought a connection to cultivate my ‘Bengaliness’ by holding onto Bengali food customs and practices. I use my personal narratives as the starting point to link the self to the social, by showcasing the way my experiences in paying attention to how what we cook and eat at home can serve as crucial to understanding migrants. When migrants uproot their lives to new countries, they often use objects to maintain an association to their original homelands. By exploring the shil batta, a grinding stone kitchen utensil, used in Bengali households for generations, I consider how the activation of this object functions as a site of social, historical and cultural knowledge. The use of the shil batta to make and share traditional foods allowed for me to delve into the deeper role and meaning that food and its related practices can play in preserving ethnicity, culture, tradition and shaping one’s sense of social belonging.