What if a simple loaf of bread could tell the story of an entire place, its resilience, its politics and poetry? In this episode of Whetstone Audio Dispatch, host Meher Varma takes us deep into the heart of Srinagar, Kashmir, where the unmistakable aroma of freshly baked tchot leads her to the neighborhood kandur, a traditional bakery that’s far more than just a place to buy bread.

Through conversations with bakers, poets, and everyday customers, we uncover how these bakeries, modest structures built of brick and smoke, have become cornerstones of community life, sacred tradition, and resistance. We meet legendary Zareef Ahmed Zareef, who traces the 4,000-year-old roots of Kashmiri baking, and listen to local myths where mystics emerge from tandoors bejeweled and unburned.

Whether it’s feeding a neighborhood during a curfew, sharing unspoken trust through pay-later systems, or trading morning news, bread becomes a portal into an unseen Kashmir, one where bread is more than sustenance; it is survival, spirit, and social glue.

This episode was made possible by the support of @heirloomcities

Gardening on Water: The Dal’s Ancient Floating Gardens

For thousands of years, Kashmir has been called jannat (heaven) by Urdu poets, travelers, and tourists. The Dal Lake in Srinagar is a jewel in its crown. Flamingo pink lotuses carpet the waters, and shikaras —small wooden boats— row upon it, making the destination a favorite for Instagram-loving honeymooners. However, deep in the Dal is a world less visible: its floating gardens.

In Gardening on Water, Meher Varma, returns with a two-part audio dispatch from Srinagar, introducing us to the political complexities that challenge the reductive depiction of 'Kashmir as heaven on earth.’

Join us as we row you through the majestic and complex world of Dal's Floating Gardens.

This episode was made possible by the support of @heirloomcities

In September 2020, the government of India approved a series of agricultural acts, often referred to as the “Farm Bills.” What was proposed threatened to change the state of agriculture in India forever, and thus, inspired a long farmers' protest that is only just coming to a conclusion (thanks to a recent announcement that confirms the laws have been repealed). This episode tracks my journey to Tikri border — located on the capital’s suburbs — where thousands of farmers lived as they protested the effects of neoliberalism on Indigenous agricultural systems. Cooking with the community and feeding everyone who came to the site (including the police!) was one crucial way in which solidarity was cemented. My guide, and the guest of this show, is the inspirational activist Navkrian Natt, who along with thousands of farmers, resisted injustice with all her heart.

Bad Table Manners is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Bad Table Manners here.

Find show notes here.