India, Oct. 16 -- Food has a unique ability to bring people together. It breaks down barriers and builds a sense of belonging. It helps healing and building bridges, and forging solidarity.

In the third week of October 1930, Trimbak Raghunath Deogirikar, a prominent Congress leader and author, convened a meeting of Congress leaders and citizens at the residence of Vinayak Sathaye in Sadashiv Peth. Eighty men and women were invited, and they had no prior knowledge of the agenda. They probably thought that Deogirikar wanted to share his experiences of imprisonment. He had been arrested for participating in the Salt Satyagraha in April 1930 and had been recently released from prison.

While planning the first act of civil disobedience again...