Moor's Latest Sigh

Padma Lakshmi’s found fame alright, but it wasn’t easy. She’s modelled in Milan and Paris for Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace and Ralph Lauren. She did win some attention, "It was a wild time," she says, "I was in every tabloid." That was as one among many other models, but she was clearly getting there. She also lived in Spain and Morocco, moved to Los Angeles for six months, didn’t find the big time she was looking for but did find a publisher for her cook-book Easy Exotic: A Model’s Low-Fat Recipes From Around the World. A book that got some attention even from the New York Times food editor - even for the recipes between liberally-spread low-cut shots of herself. Not everyone was generous. A critic panned this "luscious little volume written by a raven-haired, sloe-eyed Indian model" for bringing sex as the hottest ingredient in her dishes.

At 30 or so with a 24-inch waist, Padma is no anorexic adolescent. She starred in a TV mini-series in Italy and also acted in a film. A photographer in Madrid had shot her into a modelling career. From Italy she made her way to Hollywood. At a Los Angeles party she was introduced to Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman Miramax Films. She met him again at a film premiere. She didn’t get into one of his films, but he sent her to Miramax Books. Easy Exotic resulted. And then came Rushdie who she met at a party given by Talk magazine late last year. Her effect on him is anybody’s guess, but one report declared that he was "absolutely smitten."

Rushdie’s reportedly buying a flat in New York where the two have been going to premieres together, very couple-like. For Rushdie, living in hiding from the fatwa might have made the London world seem repetitive, and New York with Padma must seem a far more stimulating, even safer option. Just weeks ago, in an interview, he’d described his third wife Elizabeth West as "the most important person in my life." The two married less than three years ago, and have a young son. But there have been reports speculating about a separation.

Back in Chennai, Padma’s grandparents seem far from thrilled by recent events. Says grandfather K.C. Krishnamurthy, "We’ve no idea about a marriage proposal. But if whatever is appearing in the papers is true, we’re not happy with the developments." In any case, in New York, Rushdie and Padma seem to be going everywhere together. Perhaps some day someone might just say the rest is history unless the Indian lady goes down as just another Rushdie girlfriend.