Barkat

Barkat means abundance: a fullness of blessings and good fortune, a state in which nothing is lacking. Vikas Khanna says the word is too big to translate fully into English, and he has chosen it as the title of his story. The book traces his path from the small town of Amritsar to international fame as a chef, including his dream of earning a Michelin Star. He recalls how his grandmother taught him the value of sharing food, and how the langars of the Golden Temple showed him that community kitchens may be the one dependable way to make sure no one goes hungry. Those lessons later shaped his goal during the COVID-19 lockdown, when he built Feed India, one of the largest food drives in the world. The result is a deeply personal account of one man's vision of presenting Indian culture to the world and of the worth of sharing a meal.