'Whom the Gods love, die young' - in memory of a dear friend

The morning of the 12th of October dawned gloomily with heavily overcast skies in Lagos. I guess it was an omen of what was waiting in my mail box.
As is my routine, I bid my husband goodbye as he leaves for work, walk into my study and turn my computer on before proceeding for my walk and shower. This morning I do not know why, but I logged in to my Facebook account first.
Just then Aparna and then Harini messaged me informing the untimely death of a friend, a fellow blogger and a very special person Jayasree Satish.
To say that I was shocked would be the understatement of the year, for just a few days ago I had spoken to Jayasree and exchanged news about the navrathri celebrations. There was no indication of an ailment whatsoever that day.To comprehend the fact that she succumbed to pneumonia was (and still is) difficult for me.

Jayasree, for many who may know her, was a talented person. She managed work from home, tried as best as she could to follow traditions as ordained in the South Indian culture and was a very loving and caring individual.

I knew her through our mutual blogs initially. Then one fine morning we started chatting through social network sites, and with time the frequency increased and the topics varied ranging from our interests to families and beyond. The friendship developed irrespective of the differences in our age and the difference in time zones for we lived half way across the globe.

It was convenient that when on holiday, we travel by road to Udipi where my parents-in-law live, from our home in Coimbatore. We would chalk out the itinerary to include a detour in Palakkad, where at that time, she lived. We would just give her a call and drop by because it was not a long distance from Coimbatore to her home.

My husband fully recalls how animatedly she spoke even the very first time we met in person. She was full of smiles and news that the respective spouses had no choice but to leave us to ourselves.
It thrilled us to know that she was featured on television. The fact that they moved to a new city gave us an opportunity to visit them there.
When stuck with a recipe idea, I might call her to discuss; let her know if something worked to satisfaction and she might just do that. Even trivial matters were discussed, joked about and shared.

That lively girl no longer lives in this earth today. It is not just "Jayasree lived; Jayasree died", for she had touched many a heart, each of us knowing her in our own ways. The 'wall' on facebook is filled with tributes for the departed soul. I only wish that she had lived to see the love she deserved. Age has been no bar; the young and old alike want her back amidst us and are at a loss to comprehend the ways of The Almighty.

To honour the memory of her, I join my friends Aparna and Harini from the food blogging fraternity to request you to be part of 'TRIBUTE JAYASREE''
This was an idea we were pondering upon soon after we received news about her demise. At the very instant we were discussing the same, Niv Mani suggested that we honour her by cooking recipes that she shared with much love. We are thrilled that many of you share our sentiments.
So here is what we would do to give her back the love she spread.

Please try recipes from her website Experiments in Kailas Kitchen.
Take pictures of the dish you have replicated (without altering them).
Visit her page 'Kailas Kitchen' on facebook, post your picture there with the link to the original recipe.
You are welcome to try as many recipes as you can. If you have something to say about her (not the recipe), please feel free to add that too.
This is an appeal to all of whom who have known her, not restricting to a small group of food bloggers.
I am hoping that many of you will willingly do this to render our support to her family during these hard times and show her our love and appreciation.
I sign off wishing that I never do such a post again, for it has been painful to coin words; I hope everyone who reads outlive me.