I Met Kaveri Ponnapa!

I think I am lucky!  I have met a lot of authors in my life. The first person I met was American author, Anthony Robbins who wrote “Awaken the Giant Within” in the early 1990s.  I have never queued for any author to sign his or her book.  Just the mere memory of my seeing that person or chatting is enough.

I met author 𝗞𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶 𝗣𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗮 of @kaverikamb in Bengaluru  earlier this month.  She has a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.  She authored 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘃𝗮𝘀.

She spent more than 8 years to do extensive research on the Kodava people for this 350-page book and I must salute her for the patience and passion.

A note of caution – this is not a cookbook but reading the book will lead you to want to taste the food of the Kodava people.

She had invited me to her residence and cooked me a traditional Coorg meal.  I was floored when I saw her dressed in a Kanchipuram saree draped in traditional the Kodagu style and she told me that she deliberately wore the saree for me.

That is Kaveri Ponnapa – humble, soft-spoken, and caring!