Happy Birthday, The One and Only Chithra!

Most Gracious ILites,

For ILites there are two important dates in March, one falls on 29th which is IL's Anniversary. Another equally important day falls on March 19th - the birthday of our one and only Chithra - the resident cookery expert, the religious guru, the counsellor and a host of other roles rolled into one person.

In 2006 I was the one to start the thread on her birthday. At that time nobody knew it was her birthday. But in 2007 there was a great rush to start the thread in her honour. I missed the opportunity in that rush.

But I was determined not to miss that this year as well.

Many of you may not be aware that Chithra Viswanathan, Chitvish, was invited into IL to contribute recipes. From recipe to religion, from sambar to spiritual, it was a giant leap for her. And she has held her place of pride in IL with the largest number of posts and the greatest number of admirers, an individual can ever have in Indusladies.


Over the years she has got slowly added one more dimension to her already multi-various dimensions. That of a hostess, and a perfect hostess at that. When I wrote her first birthday wish thread this dimension was not there.

But in that May when she invited us - my wife, daughter and I - to her house for just "an evening chat", we were simply amazed at the rousing reception and at the range of dishes spread before our eyes. That was, I think, the first instance she showed herself as a hostess. And I started a thread "An Evening With Chithra" in commemoration of that great evening. Go to that thread now and just read it one more time to know more about her and her hosting.

Then Chitra's house became the central hub for all ILites visiting India. Along with Mahabalipuram, Sukra Jewellery, Nalli Silks and Pothys, Chithra's house became a must see in Chennai. And she captured all these moments not only in her heart but in her state of the art digital camera. Today we know many ILites only because she posted their pictures in the site.

And recently she added another dimension - the indexing dimension. First she indexed her 20000 posts and made her knowledge easily accessible and readily reachable to the ILites. Then she moved over to Cheeniya sir's posts.
And finally she came to me. With my 4500 posts ranging from a male prostitute to a rural lakshmi, from SHE to HE, she took upon herself the burden of grouping them, indexing them and giving them some creative titles. You wont believe this. Now when I want to write about something I check the index and then choose a title which I want to be added there. For example, I chose the title will you sit with me, only after I read the titles under, "Yes, We are Game, Varalotti"

I deem it an honour to wish this great lady on her birthday. I wanted to overtake others in this sweet job. That is why I am writing this thread at the start of a very busy day.

Our Dear Chithra,

Wish you many more happy returns of the day. I know like me you will be completing 28 and reaching 27.

On this happy occasion I invoke the blessings of our Madurai Meena Madam. May She bless you with all health, happiness and prosperity.

May you live to be 120 and may you ever be a source of strength and inspiration to the 100000 gracious members who are going to adorn this wonderful site soon.

Love,