Talk:Padma Lakshmi

Incorrect Information
"Padma Lakshmi" does not literally mean Lotus Goddess in Sanskrit (or Indo-Aryan languages derived therefrom, like Hindi). 'Padma' does mean lotus, but 'Lakshmi' is a name which refers specifically to the Goddess of Wealth. Thus, literally, her name could be translated as "Lotus Goddess of Wealth". This doesn't add or take away, really, from the article, and is rather unimportant for a bio on Padma Lakshmi (the person), but it is encyclopedically misleading on this minor point. Should I see no objections (stated as reasonably and properly-backed statements) I will alter this reference to say, for instance, that her first name, Padma, means Lotus. This way, I don't upset people who like the unnecessary "ethnic" color the translation adds. Personally, I think it's bogus. Why don't we translate names like Peter Finch and say it 'literally' translates to "Small Rock Bird"? --68.173.46.79 21:02, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

The Tribune made an egregrious mistake (see parentage debate below). Padma's father, like her mother, is a Tamil Iyer, a type of South Indian Brahmin, has since remarried. This is easily verifiable by her last name which is a typical Tam Bram last name. Her mother's parentage is easily identifiable because there are published photos of her Mother including in Easy Exotic.

69.217.236.207 23:24, 2 July 2007 (UTC)Why does it say Porn Actress under Occupation?69.217.236.207 23:24, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Salman Rushdie's novel Fury was published in 2002, so something doesn't line up. He could not have based a character on Lakshmi if they met in 2004, as this article cites. Either they met in 2004 and he did not base the base the character on her. Or he did and they met earlier. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.6.92.146 (talk) 15:10, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

According to the New York Times article about their wedding, they met in 1999. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.6.92.146 (talk) 15:13, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

Right Arm
What is that thing on her right arm, it looks like a huge scar of some sort?

Tribune India article "However, a car accident in Malibu left a horrible seven-inch welt on her arm. "I thought with this ghastly scar, I could never make it to the ramp," she recalls, "I used layers of make up to hide it till Helmut Newton, show producer, said that I should present myself as I was. Thus, the scar became my brand statement. I was known as the woman with the long snake-like scar on the arm."

She is also married to the author Salman Rushdie. 71.224.161.81 09:34, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

The Tribune made an egregious mistake. Her father is a Tamil Iyer Brahmin, just like her mother, separated from her mother and is now remarried. This is easy to verify both by her last name (which is a typical Tam Bram name)and available photographs of her Mother.

The Tribune made an egregrious mistake. Padmalakshmi's (her full name which has been divided as a stage name) father, like her mother, is a Tamil Iyer, a type of South Indian Brahmin, has since remarried. This is easily verifiable by her last name which is a typical Tam Bram last name. Her mother's parentage is easily identifiable because there are published photos of her Mother including in Easy Exotic.

Her mother's nationality
The article in the Tribune indicates that Padma Lakshmi's mother is European and her father is a Keralite . Some have speculated that this newspaper article is inaccurate, but given that the subject of the article is Indian actresses of mixed parentage, the Tribune would have made an egregious mistake if Padma Lakshmi was in fact not of mixed parentage. This seems unlikely; the Tribune is one of the most prominent newspapers in India.

Speculation about the newspaper article's accuracy also revolves around the identification of Padma Lakshmi's mother rather than her father as the European parent. That Padma Lakshmi's mother's first name is 'Vijaya' -- a Hindu name -- does not necessarily indicate that her mother is ethnically Indian. In India, new brides sometimes change their first name to a name given by the family in which she's marrying into, and it's possible that Padma Lakshmi's mother followed this tradition.

UPDATE: The Tribune made an egregrious mistake. Padmalakshmi's (that is her full first name which has been morphed to be a stage name) father, like her mother, is a Tamil Iyer, a type of South Indian Brahmin, has since remarried. This is easily verifiable by her last name which is a typical Tam Bram last name. Her mother's parentage is easily identifiable because there are published photos of her Mother including in Easy Exotic.

Padma laksmhi is from Kerala, although she was raised in Madras. This is what she says during her appearance on a talk show with Craig ferguson (please check YOUTUBE for confirmation). At no point during that conversation does she state that she is a Tamil Brahmin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tiruvale (talk • contribs) 15:58, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

No, she is not from Kerala. She is a Tamil Brahmin from Madras. Her last name is Vaidynathan. She may be what is called a Palghat Iyer, Tamil Brahmins that settled in Kerala. However her ethnic background is pure Tamil Brahmin Iyer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sairasaira (talk • contribs) 19:23, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't believe that Tamil and Keralite are distinct ethnic groups. And I'm certain that being of a particular caste in Tamil Nadu does not mean you're in a specific ethnic group distinct from other Tamil's of different castes. Perhaps you should reevaluate the term "ethnic." This is a perennial problem for Indians: "My great grandparents are from Uttar Pradesh but my Grandparents settled in Bombay, so I say I'm from Bombay." The same can easily be said for a person from what is now considered the state of Tamil Nadu who settled in what is now considered the state of Kerala, before either were states. Does that mean Keralites didn't adopt a version of similar naming or caste overlaps as in Tamil Nadu or elsewhere? This whole argument is very silly. If she considers herself Malayalee, then that's what you should accept. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.125.206.227 (talk) 22:42, 5 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Tamil and Malayali ARE different ethnic groups. Regarding your example, if the person's ancestors are from Uttar Pradesh, he/she is an UP no matter where he/she moves. 24.184.166.238 (talk) 01:27, 12 June 2009 (UTC)Kaul

But Brahmins are a distinct ethnicity in themselves, many Kerala Brahmins have complex geographic prehistory, and there are CERTAINLY Tamil Brahmins in Chennai whose ancestry is Keralan. Just ask at the Mylapore Club where high castes hang out. BD. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.195.25.252 (talk) 08:11, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

I heard somewhere that she has her mother's surname. However, I don't have a good source/cite for that. Ariadne55 (talk) 19:34, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

I have never heard of brides changing their names when they marry. Not in S. India at least. Can you direct me to that info? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.62.77.62 (talk) 02:52, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

After a long exploration on all of her interviews and articles, i've not seen any sites or interviews saying her parents are from Kerala or she speak malayalam. In all the interviews and articles i've seen her only saying that she speak fluent Tamil. In her own website she says she speak fluent Tamil and she'd love to act in Tamil films. So as someone said she may be from Kerala but her ancestry is of Tamil. Since its a well known fact that many Tamils are living in Kerala. Here is a link from her personal site to support these points - Link. Don't dispute this anymore. --Ben (talk) 09:18, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Biography assessment rating comment
The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- HornandsoccerTalk 02:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC) In short, Padma Laxmi is NOT a mix of European/Indian mix. SHe is 100% South Asian. South Asian genes are not dominant like African and Far-East Asian genetic back ground. It is not the color of skin that determines the offspring, racial features play a bigger rote. Therefore, it is quite possible to have a perfect caucasian offspring. Rumors abound ONLOY because she has a child that looks very white. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.119.149.199 (talk) 16:11, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

Lakshmi is NOT the "God of Wealth"
Lakshmi is the God of good fortune. A big difference. Someone please fix it. Jnanasakti 04:52, 16 May 2007 (UTC)Aakash Rami

Some of it looks like it was just copied from her website. Where did she grow up? Does she know Italian also? There is no wikipedia page in English for that Italian show.

Added Top Chef 3
I added some more info about Top Chef Season 3. I'm assuming there are no objections.

"Lady Rushdie"
Does she lose this title when the divorce is finalized? Please say yes. Ribonucleic 19:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)


 * YesPosah-tai-vo 19:59, 30 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't know why Posah-tai-vo said yes. The answer is more, 'yes and no'. After being divorced from a knight she will no longer be called Lady Rushdie but she will be called Padma, Lady Rushdie, i.e. she must use her title in combination with her name. If she subsequently marries another man she will take her new husband's title, style, rank, and precedence, except if she is entitled to a higher position in her own right.--Oxonian2006 (talk) 18:23, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Size
Why are her (purported) measurements considered encyclopedic-ly relevant info? This detail in her bio seems more appropriate to Star magazine--and frankly it objectifies PL and puts undue emphasis on her size. Size obsession isn't healthy for models, women, girls, or chefs. I checked, Salman Rushdie's measurements are not listed in his bio. Can't the measurements be removed? -guest

She looks more like a B cup —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.129.84.99 (talk) 04:10, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree. It needs to be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.15.30.125 (talk) 17:19, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Skin disease?
Why can't they discuss her skin disease, Steven's Johnson's Syndrome? That is why I was directed to this page and it doesn't say anything at all about it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.159.73.78 (talk) 06:20, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the Stevens Johnson Page lists her as a notable sufferer of this illness that claims the lives of 5% of who get it. That would be interesting information to know more about. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.103.207.39 (talk) 05:01, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

Picture
I don't think the first picture is very flattering. Perhaps someone could replace it and or remove it? thanksMantion (talk) 01:55, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I swapped the two photos - it makes sense to have the better one come up first. Otebig (talk) 23:09, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't know if anyone swapped the pictures back as they were, but I believe that this pic http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Padma_Lakshmi_adjust.jpg should be the first picture of the article, as Mantion said 2 years ago, the one that is first right now is not quite flattering, especially considerin Padma is such a gorgeous woman, and a model. If someone could do the change, I believe everyone who visits the article will be grateful. 201.220.233.86 (talk) 06:04, 16 January 2011 (UTC)Nico
 * The preference on Wikipedia is that headshots are used for the infobox. Additionally, the article is long enough to allow for multiple images. Your edit went against both of those concepts, so I've reverted it. Tabercil (talk) 14:04, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Carl's Jr edit
I added the reference to the new ad she has made for the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain, but I'm not sure why the entire section I added is in bold italics. Can someone fix it and tell me how to keep that from happening in the future? Bradp521 (talk) 08:08, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Pronounciation of name
Does anyone have a IPA spelling of her name as pronounced in either Hindi or Malayalam? I've never seen this name before but was wondering if it was actually pronounced closer to Parma? Nlsanand (talk) 02:30, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

hi padma how r u —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.77.199.212 (talk) 06:16, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Chennai as birthplace
I'm curious about the reversion to having Kerala as where she was born. There are a number of sources which say Chennai (formerly known as Madras), besides the Toronto Star:


 * http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Its-my-life-says-Padma-Lakshmi/articleshow/1461726919.cms - "padma was born in chennai"
 * http://www.zeenews.com/news434452.html - "Chennai-born model"
 * http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2003/07/28/it-was-love-first-sight-says-padma-lakshmi - "Chennai-born US-based model"
 * http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/117590/Cinema/padma-a-secret-in-rushdie-memoir.html - "Chennai- born Padma Lakshmi"
 * http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060430/asp/look/story_6153204.asp - "reveals the Chennai-born 35-year-old"
 * http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/apr/08/fashion.salmanrushdie ("Lakshmi was born into a wealthy, middle-class family in Madras 35 years ago.")

By contrast, if we look at the Rediff article, it never says she was born in Kerala. It says "Making recipes from her childhood in Tamil Nadu and Kerala made her less homesick" and She used to resent her mother "dragging" her across Tamil Nadu and Kerala to 'show her off' to the relatives." Tabercil (talk) 20:33, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

dubious knowledge of "English, Tamil, Hindi, Italian, Dutch, French, and American Sign Language"
Nowhere in the article reference for Lakshmi's knowledge of "English, Tamil, Hindi, Italian, Dutch, French, and American Sign Language" does it mention that she knows those languages. Ajarehi (talk) 21:43, 15 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I see the ref's been updated now. Ajarehi (talk) 20:55, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Yup - dug back to what I could reliably reference... Tabercil (talk) 23:24, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

Lady Rushdie
Does she still hold the title of Lady Rushdie after her divorce with Salman Rushdie? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Niteshpradhans (talk • contribs) 19:36, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Pirate movie
Il figlio di Sandonkan is a movie about pirates not a murder mystery Its a sequel to two fomer series about a pirate called Sandokan — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.206.155.74 (talk) 11:56, 16 October 2016 (UTC)

Plagiarism addressed
I came today to the "Personal life" section, after linking from the venture capitalist Ted Forstmann's article. In the paragraph following the Forstmann mention, I found quotation after quotation with minimal sourcing.

'''On checking the sourcing I found clear, bald, unapologetic plagiarism. Most of section text was clearly stolen from a web source, nearly word-for-word, and incorporated here.''' The web citation was provided, but the text was not set apart in quotes to make clear the extent of directly appropriated text. The text that appeared (and still appears) in the article was written not by a WP editor, but by Lisa A. Goldstein of womenshealth.com. '''I addressed the plagiarism, setting off the cribbed text into a quotation. I also replaced the originally appearing citation,''' which itself was a mirror, with the original, source article, which bears the actual author's name.

'''Please do not simply move this overly long quote out of the block quote format, and back into the text. This would return the plagiarism. What is required is a thorough rewrite, citing the Goldstein source throughout, or adding additional sources.''' Everything that is quoted needs to remain in quotation marks. (If the block quote is eliminated in future editing, the Lakshmi statements recorded by Goldstein must be maintained as quotes within quotes, single quotation marks within double quotation marks.)

Here is the diff,. Better, compare the "Personal life" sections here, with here.

Even more clearly (because plagiarism is a serious matter), here is the block of text from the Goldstein source, from which the 1150 appearing characters were plagiarised, the plagiarised text appearing in bold:

That is, the changes made to the article before cutting-and-pasting—the plagiarism stopped short of copying and pasting the whole article—were to omit the non-bold paragraphs, and to change "And this is why she started the EFA." to "Her lifelong battle with this condition led to cofounding the Endometriosis Foundation of America." (Note that the "lifelong" exaggerated the article text, which stated when the condition began, and the co-founding detail was unsourced.)

I will address the original editor who plagiarised this text. '''I ask other editors to be on the lookout for other portions of the article that were added, similarly, as we are apparently not attentive to these large additions, and how editors might make them (honestly, or not).

Cheers, Le Prof 50.179.252.14 (talk) 15:09, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

Nationality and lead
Per MOS:ethnicity, place of birth, previous nationalities, and/or ethnicity are not to be included in the lead unless directly relevant to notability. Specifically, "The opening paragraph should usually provide context for the activities that made the person notable. In most modern-day cases, this will be the country of which the person is a citizen, national, or permanent resident; or, if the person is notable mainly for past events, the country where the person was a citizen, national, or permanent resident when the person became notable. Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless it is relevant to the subject's notability. Similarly, previous nationalities or the place of birth should not be mentioned in the lead unless they are relevant to the subject's notability." This individual's notability occurred in the united states as a U.S. citizen. Per MOS:Ethnicity, the default is not including ethnicity in the lead. What is our reasoning to include her ethnicity/place of birth/prior nationality in the lead and moreover, what is our reasoning to include it prior to her nationality in the first sentence? Also, India does not permit dual citizenship. Apoorva Iyer (talk) 01:00, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

Also note that per Indian law, dual citizenship is not permissible, thereby making the subject not an Indian national and solely of United States nationality considering she has solely U.S. citizenship. Apoorva Iyer (talk) 18:39, 25 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Nationality and citizenship differ. India's citizenship laws do not alter the fact that Padma was born in India and is of Indian nationality.  It may be they no longer recognize her Indian citizenship because she is now an American citizen, but she identifies as Indian with ties to India.  The change you are making requires concensus once it's challenged, and thus far, you don't have it.  -- -- Dr. Margi   ✉  20:00, 25 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, your statement that Nationality and citizenship differ does not apply to Indian citizenship or nationality per Indian Nationality Law: (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law). Per Indian Nationality law, "The acquisition of another country's passport is also deemed under the Citizenship Rules, 1956 to be voluntary acquisition of another country's nationality.". By acquiring United States citizenship, she has renounced both Indian citizenship and nationality. I found more sources confirming this here: https://www.indianembassydublin.gov.in/page/citizenship/ and here: https://www.indembassysweden.gov.in/page/renunciation-of-indian-citizenhip/. Furthermore, I am only stating that we should follow Wikipedia guidelines on biography lead rules as stated in MOS:Ethnicity which I referenced earlier. I would say that since you are proposing a departure from Wikipedia guidelines, you would need to establish consensus for the proposed changes of adding "Indian" to both the lead as well as her nationality as there is no evidence for either of these and addition to the lead would violate Wikipedia biography lead rules. Apoorva Iyer (talk) 20:43, 25 February 2021 (UTC)


 * Also, I question where your source is for the fact that she identifies as "Indian". She of course identifies with the immigrant experience but she has specifically stated that she is "American" (not "Indian" or even "Indian-American"). Here is the reference to the Washington Post Article regarding the same: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/millions-of-americans-like-me-and-ilhan-omar-are-right-where-we-belong/2019/07/19/07934334-aa53-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html. Do you have sources for your claims? Apoorva Iyer (talk) 22:23, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:10, 13 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Padma.png