Eat.

Julia Child famously once said, "people who love to eat are the best kind of people", I am in complete agreement. I was a very skinny child and grew up to always be a slim woman (until I hit the mid 30s and my BMI dipped haha!), however, I always had a voracious appetite. My love of food, I would credit my maternal grandma or "nanamma" with that. Every time I visited her, I loved sitting on the granite platform of her pink walled kitchen as she whipped up food for the family and visitors. I recall every Eid and every Christmas the dining table laden with food and my handsome grumpy grandpa or "bade nana" sitting in his corner seat eyeing all the effort being made and wondering possibly "why!"

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I just remember her making everything from scratch. I recall the stove with its 2 burners on and a kerosene stove also running sitting on the floor with a house help frying something or the other, following my nanamma's strict instructions. 

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A bespectacled, tall, part Tamilian part Malaysian doctor (first one in my family) who raised 4 kids with 2 religions, she had come a long way from her catholic school upbringing to cook up the best Hyderabadi food one can imagine, aside from many south Indian delicacies. She always said thatI got her Tamilian genes because of my obsessive love for sambar, rice, ghee and papad with pickle (a love that still remains burning strong). My grandma is still considered the best cook on my mom's side of the family. She was a genuine Chef!

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She taught me to love food. To savor food. To dig in with my hands when I wanted. To not judge food. To respect those who create our meals...& To try everything...give every food a chance at least once.

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So EAT my darlings! Eat in moderation...but Eat.

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PS: Her name was Helen Sophia Basheeruddin Taher (yep! I was named after her.) ;)

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Picture to the Right: My grandma with me on her lap as a baby.

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