EP.140 - Shuraya Akhter Bhatti - "Confidence Really Comes When You Sit w/ Your Weakness"

You ever meet someone who reminds you that healing doesn’t always happen in therapy — sometimes it happens in the kitchen?In this episode of Middle Fingers Up, Kiran Randhawa sits down with Bengali home cook, mother, and storyteller Shuraya Bhatti, whose journey from grief to growth will make you rethink what it means to take care of yourself.After losing her father, Shuraya turned to food — not just to cook, but to connect. What started as a way to honor her roots became a space where strangers walk into her home and leave as community. Together, we talk about the power of slowing down, how ADHD shaped her work and motherhood, and why immigrant women need to stop apologizing for resting.You’ll walk away thinking about:How grief can actually spark creativity and connectionThe freedom that comes when you let yourself be imperfectWhy taking a long shower isn’t selfish — it’s survivalHow storytelling, community, and self-compassion help us heal what we never got to nameThis conversation isn’t about cooking — it’s about coming home to yourself.Raw. Honest. Exactly what you didn’t know you needed today.Connect with Shuraya:Find her at shurayaskitchen.ca, on Instagram and Facebook (@shurayaskitchen), and at her monthly cooking classes in Calgary.Support the showIf you like what you hear please click on "subscribe" or "follow" -  It's free and you will get notified when the newest episodes are posted!  Check us out on Instagram, X, and YouTube @mfupodcast. Give feedback, middle finger recommendations as well as random thoughts to [email protected]. Thank you for listening!In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.