Street Food: Who owns the Public Space
I speak to Rida Bilgrami and Nida Jehangir about the significance of visibility and street food in Pakistan: who owns the public space?
We began by drawing from our experiences and concerns for safety in public spaces. Street food stalls, dhabas and markets are dominated by men with women reduced to a small group of observers. . We highlight a number of grassroot efforts to create safe spaces for women in the country. Women’s collectives, restaurants and modes of public transport launched exclusively for women have empowered them to reclaim and demand their space.
Nida Jehangir @fooddiarieslondon runs the food and travel blog, Food Diaries London. She shares recommendations to eat in London and around the world.
Rida Bilgrami @ridahb is a food journalist focusing on the intersection with history, identity and migration. Her work has been featured in VICE, Eater, Gastro Obscura, Catapult, and The Juggernaut.
[TECHNICAL DISCLAIMER - it seems Numra was personally under water in the 1980s, possibly making a long distance call when recording this session! Apologies for the distorted sound on her end. We are still learning the technical side of things so we appreciate your patience. Nida and Rida were speaking from the 21st century so their audio is pretty decent. . Please do have a listen! We had a very interesting conversation.]
Resources:
Girls at Dhabas - https://girlsatdhabas.wordpress.com/
Lyari Girls Cafe - https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/12/18/lyari-girls-cafe-nurturing-dreams-of-pakistani-women
The Pink Rickshaw - https://thecircle.ngo/project/pink-rickshaw/
Empress Market restoration - https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/393368-this-is-how-empress-market-will-look-like-after-restoration
The Future of Sadar in Karachi - https://www.dawn.com/news/1455851
Karachi seeks to remake itself - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/26/world/asia/karachi-construction-pakistan.html
Pedestrianised Burns Road - https://arynews.tv/en/karachi-burns-road-traffic-free/
Karachiites facing troubles after Burns Road Renovation - https://fb.watch/4_zMMZbcJd/
Jiah Ali’s portrait of Arshad Khan - https://www.instagram.com/p/BLjIoyLjPCR/?hl=en