Destiny's Child

Author, chef, and all-round superwoman, Padma Lakshmi on living life on her own terms

- Chinmayee Manjunath

“I SPENT 30 YEARS OF MY LIFE WORRYING about what people back home in India thought about me and what Americans thought about this Indian girl who wanted to be a part of the American fabric. And now success and independence have freed me from the emotional shackles of approval,” says Padma Lakshmi.

Much before social media, before women of Indian origin could command even a sliver of the international spotlight, and before the cult of the global-local celebrity, Lakshmi carved a unique and specific niche for herself, switching from modelling to television, and finding her place in the culinary world along the way. In Mumbai early this year to promote her two new books and to walk for her friend Tarun Tahiliani’s show at Lakmé Fashion Week, Lakshmi, 46, spoke to Bazaar about the journeys she has undertaken to get to where she is today.

By her own admission, it was not easy starting out as a brown-skinned model, as she did, at 21, in the early ’90s. With signature tenacity, she found a way to not only survive it but pivot from it to create a unique life for herself. “Modelling is a difficult profession even if you’re a Caucasian girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, but I had a financial need that did not allow me the space to feel sorry for myself. It’s easy to swallow your pride when your stomach is empty. I think I turned to my grandfather for comfort—he was a very interesting man who had instilled in me a love for books and learning, which gave me a place to go to that was not dependent on my body or my skin colour. This is very important because it gives you enough intelligence to separate others’ ideas of you from who you are as a person,” she says.