INDIA IN NEW YORK

THOUGHT FOR FOOD

by Monika Joshi

While enjoying a six-course dinner in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt, New York, at the 11th Annual James Beard Foundation Awards gala on April 29, 34-year-old journalist Shoba Narayan, who had been nominated for the prestigious M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award of the foundation, did not expect a toast would be raised to her, too.

But, after the coffee, as the last award of the evening was announced, the gods smiled at Narayan. Her article, 'The God of Small Feasts,' published in Gourmet magazine in January 2000, had won. The M.F.K. Fisher Award is given to a single newspaper or magazine article for exceptional literary merit on any subject pertaining to food or drink.

The other two nominees were journalist Jhumpa Lahiri, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning 'Interpreter of Maladies,' for the article 'Indian Takeout,' published in Food & Wine Magazine, and journalist Alan Richman for the article, 'Oldest Living Jewish Waiters Tell All,' published in Gentleman's Quarterly in October 2000. Author Jhumpa Lahiri, who was nominated for the M.F.K. Fisher Award.

Narayan, a freelance journalist based in New York City, has been writing on issues as varied as culture, food, finance, technology and contributing to leading newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, Gourmet, Internet World, Teen People, and the Web site Rediff.com. Her essays and commentaries have appeared on National Public Radio's All Things Considered Weekend, a 60-minute news show.

Her award-winning article portrays the various feasts in her joint family in Chennai, India, and the lazy afternoons thereafter when women let their hair down, chewing betel leaves and gossiping. She speaks about the time when the rebel in her yielded to the intricacies of good cooking and finally won over her elders to get their nod to study at Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts. She discovered that, as always, the way to their hearts was through their stomachs, and a vegetarian feast she prepared became the deciding factor in her future.

"Yes, the article is autobiographical. With some exaggeration," Narayan told India in New York in a telephone interview. Her parents were thrilled to hear of the award, which came as a gift to her father on his 70th birthday.

Speaking about the awards ceremony, she said: "Everyone encouraged me, including Alan Richman whom I met the