Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Meera Klein. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Meera, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

I firmly believe I’m a product of my ancestors and continue to be motivated by them.
My mother had a profound influence on me and my writing. She inspired my book, My Mother’s Kitchen: A Novel with Recipes.
She was a tiny woman, barely five feet tall, with deep brown eyes and a shy smile. My sister and I called her “amma,” which means mother in our native Malayalam.   My mother’s name was Sita Lakshmi, but everyone called her Leela. Even as early as the 1960s, my Amma was different. She received her college degree when it was uncommon for women to attend college. One of my earliest (and saddest) memories was saying goodbye to her when she left my sister and me behind to get her teaching credential. She attended a women’s college (later it became my alma mater), which was about 8 hours by bus, so she stayed in the dorms and came to visit us on weekends. My sister and I were under the care of her aunt, whom we called “Muthi” or granny.       
 A year later, she got her first teaching job at a small village school that was more than two hours away by bus. But my mother was an enthusiastic educator, and the grueling commute didn’t dampen her love of teaching. Much later, the teaching job was our sole means of income, and it became more than a job. Teaching was a vocation for my mother. She worked in state schools where the poorest families sent their children. I know that many days, she gave up her luncheon of cold rice with yogurt and a bit of mango pickle to a child who had not eaten anything all day. Because of her example, I know three young women who became teachers. My mother was known in our hometown of Coonoor as “Leela Teacher,” and as the daughters of a teacher, we were expected to conform to specific behavior. Anything and everything we did was reported to her. I walked my sister home one afternoon because she was burning up with a fever (it turned out she had chicken pox) and then went back to attend the rest of the school day. My mother was told by the bus conductor on her return trip that I had skipped school and was seen walking around town during school time!     
She loved teaching, but in her heart, she wanted to be a stay-at-home mother. We were latchkey kids before the term was coined. My sister went on to become a successful business leader in India. She is a noted speaker and advocate of diversity in the workplace. She followed my mother’s love of career and independence. I chose a different path. I wanted a family, to stay home, and to be a mom. I didn’t want to miss a single event in their young lives, and luckily, I could do that during their formative years. Now, with an empty nest looming ahead, I appreciate my mother even more. How hard it must have been for her to say farewell when I left at 20 to attend college in America! Would she be proud of how I’m saying goodbye to my children? Untying the sari (or apron) strings is a bittersweet moment for any mother. We find our destinies in different ways, and some of us are lucky enough that our mothers are our signposts, pointing us in the right direction.  

Meera, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always loved writing and have dabbled in this art form since my teenage years. However, my writing journey didn’t really begin until my mother’s death in 2003.
Second-generation Southeast Asians who have lost touch with their roots can find their way home through my books. It’s important to fit in and be part of American society, but it’s also good to know your ancestral traditions and customs. My books are filled with Indian traditions, myths, and, of course, food. I hope the next generation of Indian Americans (and anyone curious about South India) will pick up a copy to learn more about Kerala festivals and celebrations.
MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN: A Novel with Recipes
This first book is a tribute to my mother, Leela Sadasivam.
Her cooking style reflected her lifestyle. It was no-nonsense, decisive, and delicious. In our tiny kitchen, she whipped up gravies, rice dishes, and delicate dosa pancakes quickly and efficiently.
My cooking was deeply influenced by her and later by cooks like Laurel Robertson and Carol Flinders.
I developed the recipes in the book based on my memories of cooking with my mother. Although the book is fiction, the descriptions of Onam, Vishu, and Deepavali celebrations are based on my childhood. The book will take readers on a sensory journey through South India.
SEEING CEREMONY: A Novel with Recipes
Seeing Ceremony is a ritual associated with arranged marriages. Decades ago, my mother tried to arrange my marriage. Luckily, I dared to say no and was even more fortunate to have an uncle and aunty who invited me to visit and attend college in northern California. My trip to California in 1982 was the start of the next chapter of my life.
Living in California, especially with my uncle, aunt, and friends, was an educational experience that profoundly influenced the rest of my life. My uncle was proud of his matrilineal heritage and passed this on to me. My aunty was a lover of Southern literature and decadent chocolate desserts. Under her guidance, I read William Styron, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Russell Baker, and Ann Tyler, to name a few. I also learned to make chocolate mousse cakes, truffles, and the best fresh strawberry pie.
Seeing Ceremony is a story about a young woman named Meena finding a way to remain true to herself while respecting her mother’s wishes. It is romantic and perhaps a bit starry-eyed. This book is what I call uplifting literature.
SUNSHINE CLINIC: A Novel with Recipes
The final book in the series is about Meena’s younger sister, Sunny. I was once interested in becoming a doctor, and I never lost my love for all things medical. This book is my tribute to the medical profession.
If I had become a doctor, I wanted to live in a rural village, meet quirky characters, and later write about them (like my favorite author, James Herriot). Sunshine Clinic is my fantasy novel.
A doctor’s life is never easy, and Sunny, working in a rural hamlet, faces some difficult situations. The book is peppered with strong women who nurture and feed the young doctor. Like all my books, this is a feel-good novel with a happy ending.
After reading about my books and their brief backstories, I hope you’ll pick up a copy. All three books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I seriously started writing in 2008 and was ready to be published by 2010. Sending out queries and receiving rejections can test the inner strength of a writer. We writers, I speak only for myself, can have fragile egos. We take rejections personally. So, it was devasting to receive rejection after rejection for my first novel, My Mother’s Kitchen. Each personal or impersonal rejection note was devastating, but I knew I couldn’t give up. Every time I received a rejection letter, I sent out two more queries. All the hard work paid off when I finally received the first YES. It only takes one YES to make up for all the Nos.
It has been a long, sometimes torturous road, but I can finally call myself a writer now.
I think I underestimated my own resiliency.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Writing is a lonely occupation because no one can write for you. You have to sit down and do it yourself. Before taking up writing, I was part of a vibrant elementary school environment. I worked in the school library and enjoyed interacting with the little ones as well as the dedicated teachers. Noise, laughter, chatter, and talking have been part of my life.
Now, I lead a life of solitude. Writing may be a lonely business, but I’m never alone. My universe is populated with a sweet Indian girl and the man of her dreams, a village barber with a deadly razor, and a poor teenager who is lost between two worlds. It is hard to explain to non-writers that each character is as real to me as my own children. Luckily, my characters are sweet (maybe stubborn and impulsive) and rarely homicidal or dark. I love this alternate universe. So, after my husband leaves for work, I welcome the quiet to go visit my beloved characters and their worlds. Here I am, queen of the castle, the goddess of life and death, and I enjoy every minute. Harsh reality creeps in late in the afternoon when there are breakfast dishes still to be done, beds to be made, and dinner to be prepared. I love being a writer, and solitude is bliss. This is the part of the creative process I enjoy the most and find most rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meeraklein.com/
• Instagram: #all.the.worlds.a.kitchen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meerakleinauthor/
• Twitter: @meeraklein

Image Credits

Alan Klein