DD's kitchen is a social enterprise that has been distributing more than 500 meals in Melbourne since the lockdown.
Daman Shrivastav and his eight-year-old daughter Diya have been preparing meals for people in need and delivering them up to three times a week. It has been a lifeline for many Indian international students and others who were in need during the pandemic.
Now the father-daughter duo has teamed up with Stephen Thorpe, a proud Gunnai & Gunditjmara Man, whose grandfather was of Indian-origin to extend these services to the Indigenous people of Australia.
Highlights:
- Daman Shrivastav and his eight-year-old daughter Diya have been preparing and distributing free meals throughout the lockdown in Melbourne.
- For the last three Sundays leading up to NAIDOC Week, they have been feeding the Indigenous community.
- Mr Shrivastav is being helped by Stephen Thorpe who is a proud Gunnai & Gunditjmara Man living in Melbourne, and whose great, great, great grandfather was of Indian-origin.
Since the last four Sundays, leading up to NAIDOC Week, DD's Kitchen has been running a free meal campaign for the Aboriginal community in Collingwood with the assistance of Stephen Thorpe.
Steve Thorpe is a Gunnai & Gunditjmara man living in Melbourne.
Interestingly, his grandfather Pir Saheb, was of Indian-origin.
Honouring the footprints of those who have come before us, he is a community and family man who believes in giving back to his people what he can.
After meeting Mr Thorpe, Mr Shrivastav came up with the idea of doing something with him for the Indigenous community.
“Every Sunday for the last four weeks at Collingwood, we have space the Yarra City Council has given us a kitchen and a space to serve the community,” Mr Shrivastav said.
Mr Thorpe says he was inspired to join Mr Shrivastav after learning about how he had been helping communities during the pandemic.
“I knew that he was a man of action and a man of heart and I wanted to support that, and I have connections within the community. So, I thought, let’s do something to help the people at the grassroots level,” Mr Thorpe said.
The team, with the help of volunteers and supporters, have been preparing healthy, balanced meals for the Indigenous community for three weeks and will continue to do so till the 15th November with a grand ceremony and smoking ceremony.
On Sundays, after the meals have been served, they also have performances by local artists and a smoking ceremony.
Indian and Indigenous cultures
Mr Shrivastav has been fascinated with some similarities between the Indian and Indigenous Cultures.
“The smoking ceremony is similar to our havan (an Indian religious ceremony). It is such a healing process to sit around the smoke and inhaling the Eucalyptus leaves," he says.
Mr Thorpe who is committed to healing and transformation says he has worked as a facilitator and support worker with Aboriginal men at Dardi Munwurro, and as a facilitator with the Beyond the Bars program in 2019 with Uncle Kutcha and Kevin Russell.
He is currently working with Young Aboriginal Youth at Charcoal Lane restaurant.
“I was on a 15-year cycle of addiction, which I am five years clean from and I believe we can transform ourselves. It’s about that commitment and devotion to something we envision. That we can plant a seed and manifest if we keep going down that path for a happy healthy life,” he says.
Mr Thorpe also practises Yoga and says, “I want to commit my life to help other people and I think part of that is by bringing communities together, reviving some of the tools like the smoking ceremony, and I do Yoga and chanting that can bring the energy of healing and transformation, so we are in touch with the divine.”
National NAIDOC Week (8 – 15 Nov 2020) celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Join SBS and NITV for a full slate of NAIDOC Week content. For more information about NAIDOC Week or this year’s theme, head to the official NAIDOC Week website. #NAIDOC2020 #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe
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