Udayan was a second father to us. His special gift was to make people feel better about themselves, to lift them from the trenches when things were going wrong.

The main way Udayan showed affection to his family and numerous friends was to cook aided by his cook Ashok and his daughter Shaibya, while his wife Anuradha quietly made sure everything that was needed for the feasts was available and arrangements were made for last-minute guests, of whom there were always a few. Udayan's Bombay flat was always crowded with people enjoying good food, conversation and drink. Udayan collected and cooked some recipes I have eaten no where else. Of those that I have eaten elsewhere, they don't come anywhere close to being as sublime as what came out of his kitchen. Udayan's personality and his food reflected the best cliches about Gujaratis, about cosmopolitan Bombay, and above all his huge heart for life, people and love.

One of my abiding memories is of Udayan sitting with his glasses on, a pile of cook-books beside him, the curtains open to the vast expanse of the Arabian sea behind him. I would come back to Bombay from life in student accommodation first in India, and then abroad, and Udayan would immediately ask what I wanted to eat. Then while guzzling a melt-in the mouth kebab, or stuffing myself with prawn pulao (he ate slowly, savouring every mouthful) we would talk. Udayan left a gaping hole in many lives and we miss him terribly every day. Shaibya, Udayan's daughter, has inherited his legacy. Like her father, Shaibya is a brilliant and instinctive cook. I can't wait to get back to Bombay to eat what she cooks!

-Uttara Shahani