HomeMain Slider“My dear paati is gone” Mourns Padma Lakshmi

“My dear paati is gone” Mourns Padma Lakshmi

“My dear paati is gone” Mourns Padma Lakshmi

The Indian American TV star and chef Padma Lakshmi credited her late grandmother with teaching her “about life, often through food.” (photo Instagram)

By India-West Staff Reporter

NEW YORK, NY – In a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother on Instagram, Padma Lakshmi mourned her grandmother, Rajima.

The news came on Feb.13 where the Indian American ‘Top Chef’ host announced the tragic passing of her grandmother. “She was my rock and example,” Lakshmi, 51, said and posted a video with Rajima’s photos. “Rajima lived life serving others. She raised us all.”

A grateful granddaughter continued, “She was much more than a grandma, the only one I knew. She helped raise me, my whole childhood whenever my mom needed a break. I wouldn’t have the career I have without her guidance. But more importantly, I would never be who I am without her love & care. She didn’t just teach me about food, but about life, often through food.” The Indian American also said that Rajima might look familiar to people, “You may recognize her from my cookbook cover, or in drawings from ‘Tomatoes for Neela,’” she wrote.

The ‘Top Chef’ host also recounted her grandmother’s achievements stating, “Rajilakshmi Krishnamurti started the first Montessori school in Tanjavur and was a teacher for 20 years in DTEA and MEA, Delhi. She worked at Asian hospital in Madras, went to slums in a mobile vax unit treating thousands of kids. Finally, she helped set up at an orphanage in Besant Nagar, all while raising 4 kids, 6 grandkids, nieces, and younger siblings, too. For decades she cooked daily meals and tiffin for 8-10 on a 2-burner stove in govt housing.”

Padma Lakshmi is nothing but grateful to have spent some quality time with her grandmother amid the COVID-19 pandemic that was full of suffering and loss for many.

Lakshmi concluded the post with gratitude, “I’ve had a crazy, exhausting, devastating week. I‘m grateful she waited. Just like she always did on our veranda when I arrived back from the US. I met her knowing eyes, held her hands, rubbed her feet. I thanked her for a lifetime of teaching. Her gift. I was able to bear witness as she’d always done. She left us hours later. Elegant and patient with me to the last minute. I love you Jima, na poittu varren.”

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