First ancounter at the Deli, 

Ciao,
I was welcomed with a big smile,
Please take a seat.
Or if you prefer to stand over the counter that is also fine,
‘una tazza di caffè? Or an aperitivo?
A bowl of pasta; I said.
Scents of pecorino, pesto, and parma ham,
A pinch of soul,
These tastes and smells!
It smells of belonging, togetherness;
Little bit of history and heritage.
These ingredients shout identity,
If that’s not enough I count 18 Italian flags
There is hardly room for one more. 
The walls are plastered in Italian jerseys,
Channel Italia Uno is shouting news in the background,
Its an archive;
An archive of diasporic memories.
See there, over the counter.
a woman exchanges a smile for a panino.
As I find my table,
Alongside the road.
I find; the pleasure of well situated eating.
A seat at the Deli
You all will find me sitting there, being.

Ciao,

Just Another Place

“We never photograph these places, we never document;  there will never be a small deli like this again.”  This Essay Film highlights the importance of the grand collective memories of the city and the infra ordinary and individual memory by its inhabitants. One could not exist without the other. It measures the Ordinary and how the tangible and intangible layers are reflected through the spaces we dwell in on a daily basis. The power of objects illustrates how this archival quality about a space contributes to the place, its identity, belongingness and togetherness.What should one do with the micro historical and to most people, partly insignificant and rather ordinary spaces? How should this be preserved at all? Could it be understood as a self induced infraordinary museum. Developing the diagrammatic sensibility via documenting these ‘lived experiences' it unfolds vital parts of the social structure and organizations of the local neighborhood, like a spatial snapshot.

Naisargi Korat