12 minute read
Cooking With Compassion
from SEEMA November Issue 2021
by SEEMA
Entrepreneur Nupur Arora feeds those in need in her community
SWETA VIKRAM
On Ashtami, the eighth day of Durga Puja, it is believed that Goddess Kali appeared from the forehead of Devi Durga and killed Chanda, Munda, and Raktabija — the asuras or demons who were with Mahishasura. If I remember correctly, this is the story my mother told me. Be it Asthami or Navami, my interest has mostly been in Kanya Puja and the Asthami prasad composed of halwa, puri, and kala chana.
Ever since my mom passed away, I haven’t eaten any Asthami prasad. I make halwa, puri, and kala chana for winter brunch or other festivals. Just not on Asthami. I miss my mom’s cooking. This year, most unexpectedly, I received a surprise prasad package for Asthami. What did it contain? Puri, halwa, and kala chana. It was finger-licking good and took me back to my childhood. This surprise delivery was from Nupur Arora, the CEO of Namastay Food and Bev Corp. NY. It was truly the taste of mom’s love on a plate.
Arora has a larger-than-life personality and ginormous heart. I was almost tearyeyed as we devoured the box of prasad. Some of my friends saw the picture of the prasad platter in my Instagram stories and went, “That looked so good. I wanted to eat it.”
I agree with them. Arora’s food tastes delicious. I love to cook and throw dinner parties at home. But part of my self-care is getting a few of ’s dishes on my plate. My personal favorites are her rajma and saag paneer. There are so many people who are gifted cooks with successful restaurant or catering businesses. There are numerous cooks and meal delivery services all over NYC. What spoke to me about Arora is the altruism in her work and the purpose behind what she does: feeding the community with love.
Nurturing the Community
“I believe in community,” Arora said. “My brand name, Queens Curry Kitchen, is built on the love I have for Queens and the diverse cuisines it has to offer. Community not only gives us the roots for a foundation but also gives us branches to network and expand and do work that feels rewarding and fulfilling.”
Arora walks the talk. When I was planning an inperson book reading event, she said, “I will supply snacks.” I asked how she wanted to set the pricing, so the host and I could include it in the ticket price. Arora replied, “Build a community. Get people together. I will do it for free this time.”
How It Started
After her daughter went away to college and Arora lost her father, she felt an overwhelming sense of isolation and grief. To top that, Arora had to end her lease with the commercial kitchen for her spice manufacturing company due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. She felt unsure about what she was going to do with her talent. But the universe was watching.
In 2020, Arora received a random phone call from a community member during the lockdown, asking if she could take some food to this person’s aging parents in Arora’s neighborhood. This wasn’t an Indian family. For weeks, Arora cooked and delivered food to a rabbi recovering from knee surgery and his wife. She even cooked Sabbath meals for them.
That one phone call rekindled Arora’s love for homestyle cooking. Eventually, that became the bridge between her family’s restaurant in Manhattan (that was suffering due to lack of business) and the community in Queens. Today her clients include folks with young children, senior citizens, those unable to go food shopping, busy families, and individuals living alone. It has given them something to look forward to every week as the menu changes weekly.
“The community has been very supportive of this new side to our business with homestyle food, which is healthy and nutritious, offering something new every week, something that is hard to find in any restaurant,” she said.
The communities of Forest Hills, Rego Park, Briarwood, and Kew Gardens have been rooting for her business.
“They have really helped me establish a regular meal delivery service, bringing plant-based Indian food to people eager to eat healthier, but do not have the time to cook every
meal for themselves or their families,” she said. Arora cooks with olive oil, Himalayan pink salt, and low spice levels. She personally delivers the food to Roosevelt Island and multiple neighborhoods in Queens, NY. For her Manhattan clients, she has help for delivery.
Staying Authentic
Another cool thing about Arora’s meal delivery service is that she stays true to her North Indian upbringing by offering dishes that her mother used to prepare daily when she was growing up.
I have combined this with weekly specials of street food from India or regional specialties and the community that I serve has very happily embraced each and every item that we have served up,” she said.
Nourishing the Sick
If Arora finds out people in her community are sick (even if she doesn’t need to know them personally), she cooks and delivers meals free of charge. For a mom who had undergone gastric bypass surgery, Arora delivered five weeks of free meals for the entire family as the lady’s mobility was restricted. For families hit by COVID, she supplies 2-3 weeks’ worth of food. There is a mom undergoing chemotherapy for whom Arora has been dropping off fresh, free, homemade meals for six weeks now.
“I won’t stop till she tells me she’s had every item on my menu,” Arora says with a smile.
Her compassion is not limited by geography. When the Delta variant of the coronavirus engulfed India earlier this year, Arora donated all the revenues earned from her meal delivery service for one week to Hunger Heroes. Chef Aman Dhar, who is her nephew, started Hunger Heroes in 2020 to feed homeless immigrant workers on the streets of New Delhi. Many of them were abandoned by their employers during the lockdown.
Monetary contributions from Arora as well as her regular customers in Queens, NY to this campaign helped Chef Dhar arrange oxygen tanks, unadulterated medicines, and food supply to many COVID-hit families across New Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon.
How to Help the Queen of Spices Sustain Her Queendom
It’s the holiday season. Diwali and Bhai Dooj celebrations are winding down, and we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. Aren’t holidays about sharing food and love with your family, friends, and community? Isn’t Thanksgiving itself about sharing meals and practicing gratitude? Arora’s work makes each day feel like a special holiday for those she helps. If you sponsor a week’s worth of meal for a family in need, it gives Arora a break as well. You let her know and make the payment; and she will cook the food and have it delivered. For her business and selflessness to be sustainable, let’s support this woman who is feeding communities with love.
Arora’s parting words as we wrapped up the interview were, “If you are already a paying supporter, I want to say a heartfelt thank you! If you know anyone who is at a challenging time of their life due to illness, (mental or physical), financial challenges, or a family that lost a loved one, a mom working two jobs and doesn’t have the time to cook or even a senior citizen or college kid away from home or family who could use “moms love, on a plate” give them my number. If you can’t help with $$ please let them know a service like this exists!”
People are healing, their families are well-fed, and that makes Arora happy. “I know my purpose in the world: Usko nibha rahee hoon.”
Final Thoughts
For anyone anywhere in the world who would like to order a week of food for their loved one in New York City (subject to delivery zones), here’s the link! There is a new menu every week and food is delivered to their door.
Queens Curry Kitchen is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can call or text Nupur Arora at (917) 415-3823 to discuss any specific dietary needs for custom orders, group orders, events etc.
ALL PHOTOS CREDIT : SHREESAINI.ORG
LIFE’S
Shree Saini has powered her way through illness and trauma. Now she is Miss World America
ABHIJIT MASIH
‘T is the season of being grateful. Shree Saini, the newly crowned Miss World America, certainly has loads to be grateful about. On October 2, 2021, Shree Saini was crowned Miss World America 2021 by Diana Hayden, Miss World 1997. This December, she will go on to represent the United State of America at the Miss World 2021 contest in Puerto Rico.
The 25-year-old girl born in Ludhiana and raised in smalltown America, has a rough time getting to where she is now.
When she was but 12, a blockage caused her heart to beat weakly, sometimes only once in five seconds. She required one heart surgery then, to be followed by others, once every 10 years. She still wears a pacemaker.
Then, a few years back, a car accident left her with severe facial scars, which ordinarily could have ruined any chance of competing in a beauty contest, leave alone in Miss World
America.
Saini painfully narrates the torment she endured in the aftermath of the accident:
“I had wounds oozing with blood, my face was so swollen for weeks that I could not see my ears, and my tears would further burn my wounds so I could not even cry because the salt in my tears caused more pain. I had to request my university to allow me to come to classes with a fully hidden face. My mom sewed extra wide brims on hats so that I could be protected from pollution and the sun. Between classes, I would go to the bathroom to wipe wounds and put healing ointments. My face was furthermore aggregated when a doctor suggested rapid healing and caused more traumas. My mom was feeling terrible about my condition, so she said yes to each and every possible treatment, no matter how expensive it was. That was the most painful time for my family.”
Her family’s support and her own resilience saw her through this tough phase – and decide that she had a future in ballet.
“My parents raised me to be a solution focused and a possibility mindset individual,” she says. “I focus my work on the ‘right now’ and on taking moment-to-moment decisions.
I make annual, monthly, weekly and daily goals. I break daily goals to hourly time slot goals. Each evening, I [go over] my day for productivity and service work. I would dance extra long hours in my garage to match the skills of regularly healthy students.”
She explains what made her pursue her childhood dream to go for the competition.
“Miss World is the biggest and the oldest beauty pageant in the world,” she says. “It is in its 70th year. More than 125 countries compete for this crown and, most importantly, it is a charity-based pageant. The CEO, Julia Morley, has raised over
1.3 billion dollars. I was fascinated by the work done by contestants all over the world. I wanted be a part of Miss World since I was 6 years old. I even have my photo from age 6 dressed as Miss World.”
Winning the Miss World America title, Saini feels, is the answer to her prayers, her reward for serving over 100 not-for-profit organizations. She says the title is a service job and not reward for competing with others.
Saini still fondly recalls her win.
“I prayed and worked very hard since last 10 years in my nonprofit projects, and I was hoping for God’s favor,” she says. “For me true prayer is being of service to others.”
Saini credits her win to her mentors, teachers and, most importantly, to her parents.
“My parent’s middle name is ‘Sewa’ [service],” she says. “I have grown up in a house that puts social service above self service. My mom got the highest civic honor, the NASS medallion, by secretary of state for her philanthropic and volunteer work 5 years ago. Mom gives, gives, gives and gives.”
Living up to her family’s mission of service to others, Saini has worked with many nonprofits. The title win, she feels, will help her further her efforts.
“I want to serve over a 1,000 nonprofits during (the time I hold) my national title. I want to do Zoom events and in-person events and impact millions of people,” she says.
Saini hopes to work with the two organizations closest to her heart – the American Heart Association and CRY. Her closeness to the American Heart Association is personal, though.
“Each non-profit has a noble goal, all work is important, but I especially feel grateful to American Heart Association,” she says. “I am alive because of the inventions [of] medical professionals. My pacemaker is a very recent invention, and I consider myself fortunate to serve AHA.” As far as CRY goes, she says the world’s biggest responsibility is to children, and to be physically and emotionally available for them.
After more than a year-and-a-half of ups and downs during the pandemic, Saini is grateful she has come through unscathed. She says being alive and being able to take care of her health is a privilege. She wants to take the opportunity to be kinder.
“When with your big heart, you speak kindly to others, you reach out to others, you uplift a person’s confidence,” Saini says. “You forgive and help others elevate, that is generosity of spirit. It is so easy to hold grudges and gossip, it is more important to forgive and elevate others to higher levels with your fine behavior.”
Speaking to children, she asks them to choose right.
“Choose forgiveness over grudges, and forgive completely, not superficially,” she says. “Choose kindness when given unkind treatment, which is true kindness. Choose inclusion when you were ignored and reach out and renew lost friendships.”
With her wishes and prayers answered, Thanksgiving will be special for Saini this year. She plans to spend it with her family and friends, appreciating her rich blessings and the love showered on her by her community and the world.
