A doctor by profession and food content creator by passion, Dr Aflahe, socially known as Wayward Gourmet, has given people from Kerala a reason to enjoy food. His love for food began with a bite of Shake Shack Burger during his time in Qatar. After months of saving his pocket money, he finally decided to try an expensive burger on his friend's recommendation. With every bite of this stunningly delicious burger, the food lover within him became more prominent. The story does not end here, though.
Like any foodie, Dr Aflahe took another friend of his to try this burger. His friend's particularly stunning reaction had him satisfied. It is this overflow of emotions that he seeks from anyone who follows his content and even better, tries what he recommends.
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Long before food blogging had become a social media career choice, he had been recommending food spots since 2018. Back then, however, Snapchat and WhatsApp were his creative outlet, where he would post food content religiously. His shift to Instagram was born out of the need to create his own personal space where the freedom of creating content was in his hands.
"When I initially started to share food recommendations on Snapchat and WhatsApp, many people, including my parents, would wonder why I'd do it. Mind you, this was a time when "food blogging" wasn't really a thing in Kerala. I was discouraged to do it many times because people found it absurd. But for me, sharing pictures or giving recommendations was out of my love for food and wanting people to enjoy it the way I did. I shifted to Instagram solely to do what I love and to avoid the fear of being judged. It was my space, where I could do whatever I wanted."
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Over time, Dr Aflahe was able to build a small community of like-minded people who believed in his passion; who understood the juggle behind being a doctor and finding the time to explore new food spots. It was when the pandemic hit, that his social game changed for the better. The boom of content creation across niches in Kerala meant that social media became the platform to express pent-up creativity. Dr Alfahe naturally became a part of this culture and has been striving to upgrade his love for food since. But this change came with its own set of misunderstandings.
"There's a drastic difference between people who have been following me since day one and ones who have stumbled upon my profile recently. Over time, what I have realised is that people think that creating content while being a doctor is easy. It's not. By Judging the content I post, people believe that I have ample time on my hands despite being in a hectic profession. Honestly, I don't. I try to make time to create content on the side whenever I am free. There have been days when I have had sleepless nights in my profession yet I have found time to create food content for my followers. So these days, I inform my followers about my profession so that they become aware of the true reality of being a doctor and what really goes behind the scenes in my life."
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Dr Aflahe joined medicine at MES medical college, Perinthalmanna because it was his parent's dream, but eventually, the privilege of helping people made him fall in love with his profession. His time during his house surgency period opened his eyes to the possibilities of doing good as a doctor. Talking about food was originally a hobby during his school days, but it turned out to be a side hustle when he was studying to become a doctor. Believe it or not, in his college days, he would take two-hour bus rides to Calicut just to try out the food.
Dr Aflahe is living proof that you can do whatever you love if you set your mind to it. His life as a doctor did not stop him from pursuing his alternative life as a food content creator. He navigated his way through the hurdles and managed to find a middle ground that worked for him. Even though it has not been a smooth ride, every destination has given him joy. On that note, Dr Alfahe leaves us with a few recommendations he'd like you all to try out:
Perinthalmanna:
- Hotel Faizee for their naadan beef varieties
- Darbar Kanjikada for their kappa curry and mathi fry
Mallapuram
- Hotel Arafa
- Hotel Samko for the beef biriyani
- Bean Hub Cafe
Calicut
- Champion Restaurant for their pazhampuri and beef
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