I will go a step further and write about the WOMEN who changed my life. Because, I believe that no one person is responsible for bringing about a change in anyone’s life. A child is brought into this world by a mother. So its but natural that my mother plays an important part in my life.She was and still is a disciplinarian. It was her strict yet loving upbringing that moulded my personality. Her caring and always striving for others nature did influence me in my behavior towards people. She took great pains in nurturing my singing talent.Despite being a Kaansen ,she used to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning for my riyaaz.It was all her efforts that made me participate in every musical program of our community as well as outside .Her everready helping nature sowed the same seed in me too.Her innovative culinary skills may have passed on to me I may say so modestly. 😬.She always puts her family before anything else and that too influenced me to a great extent .As its rightly said ,God couldn’t be at all places at the same time, so he created mothers. Thats my Aai to you.

   The 2nd person who played a pivotal role in my life was my Aaji,Mrs Latika Khanderao Vijayakar. Though my mother gave birth to me, it was my aaji who was my caregiver throughout my childhood. She was a wonderful human being. Multifaceted she was and how:a great cook,a beautiful singer,a voracious reader,a people’s person.Our home was a haven for relatives, family, friends because of her loving nature. It was my aaji who recognized the talent in me and enrolled me in a music class which later paved an enriched musical future for me..My aaji planted the musical Kalpavriksha for me which yielded and still yields melodious fruits for me.

  After completing graduation, the next question which arises in every grandmother’s, mother’s, aunts heart is who is going to be my Princess’s Prince Charming?So duly I got married at an age when girls 30 yrs ago usually got married;in my early 20s.And thus entered the 3rd woman who was responsible for shaping my life to what its now, my mother in law Mrs Asha Vijayakar.

        She was the one who taught me the ABC of cooking. Before marriage there was no question of stepping into the kitchen with 4 ladies of the house already claiming the domain. So the responsibility of holding my hand and teaching me what jeera was and what methi was fell in the able and sugran hands of my mother in law. She wholeheartedly taught me the finer nuances of  cooking .My Home Chef entrepreneurial venture is thanks to my mother in law who never dissuaded me in the kitchen.

The last but not the least are my daughters Tanmayi and Aditi.  They gave me an altogether new personality:that of a MOTHER A title which i cherish the most. In the early years it was I who was the nurturer,guide,doctor, helper, fighter,a shoulder to cry on for my little ones but now as the shoulders have become a wee bit weary and tired, the roles have reversed.The nurtured are now the nurturers and the protected, now protectors. But im proud of this change as it is the rule of nature: Change is the only Constant in this world. I salute these Goddesses, Durga,Saraswati,Sharada,Kali for being a constant force of support in my life and my backbone . For making me what I am!!!