PALIN MITENK BLOG

By Katie Glass

Model mother: Padma Lakshmi kisses her newborn baby daughter Krishna Thea as they make their first public outing together in New York last week


When your mother's a successful former model, TV presenter and writer, you can afford to look rather contented.

If, as it now turns out, your father is a millionaire venture capitalist then there's no harm in a complacent yawn too, even if your mother feels compelled to imitate you.

This little girl is month-old Krishna Thea, seen out for the first time with her mum Padma Lakshmi, ex-wife of Salman Rushdie and host of popular U.S TV show Top Chef.


He's the daddy: Adam Dell, pictured here with Padma in February 2009, has been identified as the father of her child


Their outing in New York came as reports in the U.S. appeared to end speculation about who is Krishna's father.

He was named as businessman Adam Dell, 4.
Mr Dell is the younger brother of Michael, founder of Dell computers.

Adam Dell and his ex-lover Miss Lakshmi are said to be negotiating visiting rights to Krishna.

A friend revealed that he dotes on his daughter and wants to see more of her.

Another said: 'They are trying to work it out. They are trying to avoid anything messy.'

Mr Dell is a business and technology professor at Columbia Business School in New York and invests in technology companies. He is also a law professor in Texas.

He and Miss Lakshmi, 39, were first seen together two years ago.

After modelling she wrote a number of best-selling cookery books in the 1990s.

She married Rushdie in 2004, but they divorced three years later.

Despite the difficult visitation dealings, Miss Lakshmi looked to be reveling in her new role as she cradled Krishna during their first outing in Manhattan.


Nap time: Padma lovingly mimics Krishna's huge yawn as the baby girl fights to stay awake


Miracle: Padma gazes adoringly at her daughter who she feared she may never have after years suffering with endometriosis


Ex: Padma and her former husband Salman Rushdie, picture here in 2006


She seemed oblivious to the rest of the world as she showered her daughter with kisses while they sat on a bench together.

In a bright pink coat and white hat, baby Krishna Thea yawned loudly as she struggled to keep her eyes open while her mother wrapped her closely to her in a baby blanket.

And it's not wonder Padma couldn't keep her eyes off her 'miracle' baby, after fearing that she may not be able to ever conceive having struggled for years with endometriosis.

Padma called her Krishna Thea Lakshmi after she said early in her pregnancy that she planned to give her child a 'classically Indian Sanskrit name.'

Lakshmi became a model when she was discovered by an agent at the age of 16.

She said she was the 'first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan and New York'.

Lakshmi married Rushdie, who dedicated his novel Fury to her, in 2004 after a five year courtship



source: dailymail