FOR THE CULTURE

Anita Chhiba harnesses social media as her medium of choice to celebrate a new era of South Asian creativity, one Instagram post at a time

- ZARA AFTAB

“I started Diet Paratha because I needed it myself,” recounts Anita Chhiba, as she recapitulates the early days of the burgeoning platform that has since evolved into a space that rejects the homogeneity of South Asian beauty standards. It’s 6 pm when I dial Chhiba, who is back home in New Zealand, where she was born and raised. The sunlight glistens through the large windows as she shows me her view of the city skyline. When I ask her why she decided to move from a country as beautiful as the one that plays out on my screen, she replies candidly. “The opportunities here are so scarce; it is hard to work your way up in such a white world. I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of representation in the creative industry, and so I moved to London in search of a community and a space to grow creatively.”

Chhiba probably didn’t predict that she would herself become a force in London’s creative community, creating opportunities for stylists, photographers, and models from the diaspora. “My understanding of representation doesn’t stop at the visual,” she shares, “Whenever I execute a project or host an event, I make sure there are South Asian teams on board, and we’re paying as many of them as we can. From the caterers, the models, photographers and videographers, to the door staff, it is important to me that we go beyond the surface and provide opportunities to this previously underrepresented yet supremely talented community.”