Shanti Ayyah

Shanti Ayyah has been a part of our household, for 18 beautiful years. She has seen me go to school and college. She has seen me go through my rebellious teen years. She has seen me failing maths, time and time again. She has seen me binge eat Pizzas. She has seen me at my fattest and my thinnest. She has seen me bringing my first pay cheque home. She has seen me leaving home to get married. She has seen me turn into a new mom and she has been my shoulder to cry on when I became a widow.

Shanti Ayyah is family. I can't imagine my life without her chicken and prawn gravies, her brinji rice and saadams, her chutneys and her fish fry. 

Shanti Ayyah is no ordinary person. She is an emotion, a firehouse of talent and a soother of jittery nerves. She is convinced I was meant to be born as a man and is very particular that I don't slack off work. 

Her first question to me, even before she can enter the threshold of our house is, "Don't you have office today?" and looks at me very suspiciously until I sit down in front of my laptop. Being a hard working person herself, she doesn't like slackers. 

I don't need to look at anyone else for strength, when it comes to being a single mom. Shanti Ayyah totally aced it, with 3 kids, whom she single handedly raised. And all 3 of them, are hugely successful individuals professionally. 

I have never underestimated our beloved, soft spoken cook for a single minute in my life. I've listened to Shanti Ayyah's advice on work, health and motherhood over even my own mother's. 

She has taken my side over arguments I've had with my parents. She has fed me ghee laiden rice until I could eat no more - particularly when I was pregnant and when my heart broke into smithereens over the death of my husband.

She has loved me, unconditionally and has gone out of her way to try and heal me. She may not be tied to me by blood, but she is family. 

I love her. We all do. Shanti Ayyah is the best thing that happened to us 18 years ago. We will be shattered the day she quits cooking for us. A life without her delectable home-cooked meals would be beyond miserable.