Held in a story: Relatability across plates and places

Abstract This piece explores the power and ambivalence of storytelling through a dinner with Jemimah, a counseling psychologist and a trained educator with a keen interest in using storytelling as pedagogy in Northeast India. As the evening unfolds in her dining room, stories and memories are exchanged, revealing how relatability is not inherent but actively constructed by both teller and listener. Through reflexive visits to my ethnographic moments, the essay reflects on how shared recognition can spark connection but also carries risks of assimilation, particularly within anthropology's colonial legacy.