Indian American model and the Top Chef host, Padma Lakshmi is soon to release her memoir Love, Loss and what we Ate in India. The supermodel is also a former wife of the British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie who wrote the controversial book Satanic Verses. Lakshmi in her memoir recalls about her disastrous marriage with Salman and how jealous and egotistical he used to behave.
The book is a detailed account of Padma Lakshmi’s life that talks about how she shuttled between India and America and also about the simplicity of her tastes. The book that was started as a book on health and healthy eating, turned out to the opening up of many closed lids about her marriage.
So in the course of writing about food, she ended up writing about love and heartbreak. Padma and Salman first met in 1999 at a party and tied a knot in 2004 that lasted for three years. Apart for the initial courtship period, the tales that Padma reveals about her marriage are horrifying.
Lakshmi further states that their marriage was marred by jealousy and insecurity. Rushdie needed constant care and frequent sex. She also recalls how cold and heartless he was when she refused his sexual advances.
Lakshmi described Salman as someone who was envious of her success and could not bear the thought of her becoming famous.
My years with author Salman Rushdie are as a once beautiful meal that ultimately left me with mood poisoning.Padma Lakshmi
Lakshmi also described of how insensitive he was to her medical condition. She developed endometriosis, a painful condition affecting the lining of the womb and when she refused to have sex because of the pain, Salman just used to say “how convenient”.
After Lakshmi underwent a surgery for her condition, she had stitches on four of her major organs, but at that time, instead of caring for her, Salman went on a work trip. While he was never there for her, he needed constant care and condolences when another writer received a Nobel Prize for Literature.
Salman Rushdie needed consoling every year he did not win the Nobel Prize for Literature .Padma Lakshmi
Lakshmi divorced Salman in 2007 and after recovering from her heartbreak, she found healing in cooking and since became the host of the television show Top Chef.
Lakshmi is now a successful author, actress, producer, model and an amazing television host. With nothing to anchor her down, she has shown that “the show must go on”.
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