Though Shamin left the aviation industry to care for her son, Neev Vijay Kumar, in a twist of fate, he became the driving force behind her culinary career and her MasterChef stint.
“If you talk about inspiration, it’s my son whose got me rethinking boring housewife food,” she says.
“I always had this passion for cooking, but he kind of ignited the flame somewhere and made me feel like I should do something in that line.”
Since he was five, the 11-year-old boy has encouraged and inspired her to cook dishes from her childhood, which in turned helped her hone her skills.
“He always wanted to hear stories about what kind of food I grew up with, what kind of food I had as a little girl. He always wanted to know what I’ve eaten,” she says, adding that Neev would also ask for photographs of these food for reference.
As she had very few pictures of her childhood food, Shamin decided that she would instead replicate the dishes in real life for him and compile these on Instagram for him, and possibly, his future kids.
“He’s started calling me Masterchef Mama,” she laughs.
Neev has also become so passionate about food that he gets pretty involved in the kitchen too.
“Even in school, he’s taken up a CCA which involves cooking and just yesterday, he baked a lemon drizzle cake,” Shamin beams proudly.
Shamin even confesses that she started baking just because of him and he’s so much better than her that she’s “ashamed”.
“I think I can pick up a few skills just from him,” she says with a hearty chortle.
Text: Melissa Teo/AsiaOne
