Mumbai, August 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India-born supermodel, television host, producer and author Padma Lakshmi took a nostalgic trip down memory lane by sharing a childhood photograph from 1977, recalling her summer memories in Chennai with her family.
The former ‘Top Chef’ host shared the vintage picture on Instagram and remembered the days spent under the Coromandel sun, the summer evenings outdoors and even the mosquitoes that were part of her childhood experiences.
Sharing details about the photograph, Lakshmi wrote that it was taken during a summer in Chennai when she was sitting on her grandfather’s 1969 Ambassador car. She added that years later, in the 1980s, she learned to drive the same vehicle on the road to Mahabalipuram.
Lakshmi also recalled her aunt Banu’s influence on her childhood, revealing that she taught her cooking as well as multiplication tables.
“That’s my Aunt Banu on the right, who taught me a lot about cooking and multiplication tables. She’d lock me in the room while everyone else watched Doordarshan television,” she wrote.
Describing the people in the photograph, Lakshmi said her mother was wearing glasses and had travelled from New York for her grandfather’s 60th birthday puja. She identified herself as the child wearing pigtails, standing alongside her cousin Aarti, Rajni and Papu.
Remembering those summers in India, Lakshmi said she could still feel the heat of the Coromandel sun and the presence of mosquitoes from those evenings.
“I can feel the mosquitos and the hot Coromandel sun beating down on us,” she wrote, adding that her grandmother allowed them to step outside only after the sun had lowered.
Born in India, Padma Lakshmi moved to the United States as a child and later built a successful career as a model, television personality, producer and author. She gained global recognition as the host of ‘Top Chef’ and later created, hosted and executive produced the docuseries ‘Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi’.
Lakshmi has authored five books and has received 16 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her work in television.
FOLLOW NOW
