CHENNAI: All of us have comfort food — a bowl of hot, flavourful rasam rice, ghee-laden khichdi, soft parathas, or aromatic soups. In times of feeling blue, or whenever we just need a pick-me-up, we seek solace in these nostalgic meals. Author Ramaa Shankar’s Memoirs of a Foodie talks about that. But here’s the secret ingredient: the book carries food memories of our favourite cricketers and actors.
From cricketers Kapil Dev, and Syed Kirmani to actors Revathi and Samyuktha Honda, it features 25 personalities, their journeys, and comfort foods. Along with this book, another titled The Hidden Treasure Tales — a children’s book carrying the life stories of legends like Abdul Kalam, Sri Aurobindo, etc. — was launched in the city recently in the presence of Kapil Dev, Revathi, and other personalities at Savera Hotel.
Food and friends
Before setting up base in Puducherry and embarking on a spiritual path, while focussing on writing, Ramaa worked in the television and hotel industries. Over the years, she has made several friends, most of whom have found a space in the pages of Memoirs… “Both the books have taken me three years,” says Ramaa. “Memoirs of a Foodie is not just about food. It’s about all the celebrity friends I have had over the years. So I thought of an idea, took all my celebrity friends, and started doing a story with them based on their food.”
Ramaa has moved in close quarters with cricketers and singers and has also conducted fundraising events with them for different causes, especially to aid children from economically backward communities. She has had the privilege of cooking for personalities like Amjad Ali Khan, Sourav Ganguly, and more.
Sourav used to ask for fish with mustard; Rahul (Dravid) loves fried prawns, whereas (Krishnamachari) Srikanth would often request lemon rasam and seppankizhangu roast,” she shares. While writing the book, Ramaa learned more tidbits about her friends. Sharing some more interesting stories that feature in the book, she says, “Kapil used to miss school and he loved movies. Revathi was introduced on stage by us – me and Vani Ganapathy – at the Miss Raasi show in ‘81. Bharathiraja had come to see the show and she got an offer. These interesting facets of the person are on each page of the celebrity along with the choice of their dish.”
After collating stories and recipes, Ramaa, who is also a chef, whipped up the dishes in Coonoor and had them photographed. “From lajawab dahi kababs of Kapil to aloo paratha and chammandi of Revathi’s… it is just basically great memories of great friendships, love, affection, and food together,” she notes.
Learn and live
In the spirit of collating intriguing details about notable persons, Ramaa’s Hidden Treasures contains unknown facts about a few legends of India. “Did you know that Abdul Kalam almost jumped off a bridge when he couldn’t become a pilot, or that he ate only kanji so that he could get educated? I included Kapil because I want kids to know how he came up and became the superstar that he is. What motivated him to motivate our ‘83 cricket team to win the World Cup?,” she says, adding the book contains hand-drawn pictures by children as well as artists.
Currently, Ramaa does training programmes and self-motivation programmes for East Coast Hospitals, and is educating underprivileged children. Two of the children, Nikita and Shiva, were present at the book launch. “I have donated everything I had in life towards mentoring poor children. I have had remarkable stories of success with these children. It gives you a sense of happiness. One of them I helped educate, Muthu, now owns five factories and he funded the publishing of these books,” she shares. Ramaa calls her grandchildren Dhruva and Aanya her inspirations.
The books are priced nominally — Hidden Treasures at `279 and Memoirs…at `266. The event was sponsored by The Duchess Club at Savera Hotel. Ramaa is grateful to Nina Reddy and her team. “Even though I am not wealthy money-wise, I am very wealthy in terms of people, affection, and love. The sales from these books will go towards underprivileged children for their education,” she says.