Photo: Grant Harder
Who was your childhood hero?
Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. She wasn't anyone’s beautiful genie servant. She was laughing and joyful, in love with the Major, and in control of her own powers.
Describe the place you most like to spend time.
My dining table.
What was the last thing you read?
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Extraordinary.
What or who makes you laugh out loud?
My husband, Steven Taylor. The beauty of a relationship is you can be privately obnoxious.
If you could invent something, what would it be?
A universal sound of beauty, and the clever means to play this sound throughout the world as a shared experience.
What is your idea of the perfect day?
Leisure walking around New York City, with my daughters, Nanaki and Shanik.
What is the most important lesson you ever learned?
I don’t compete with others and focus that energy on myself
What was your nickname at school?
I was teased for being Indian and my clothes smelling like cumin: “Meeru‑Pe‑ew”
What is your most prized possession?
A half‑bottle of my (deceased) mom’s Creed perfume. I don’t wear perfume, but when I am stressed or sad, I take a whiff of this.
What would be the title of your biography?
The World in Her Bowl.
What item have you owned for the longest time?
My grade one school photo. My hair looks good.
Whom do you most admire (living or dead) and why?
George Eliot. She wrote Middlemarch and was socially brave.
In which era would you most like to have lived, and why?
To be in my 20s during the 1970s New York music scene.
What are you afraid of?
Us vs Them / Me vs You type of intransigence.
Loving and liking people generously.
What is your latest purchase?
A pair of beautiful (and durable) Sister x Soeur boots to wear in my Lila kitchen.
Name the skill or talent you would most like to have.
To be a master chef of traditional and modern Korean cuisine.
If you could only ever listen to three pieces of music, what would they be?
“Svefn‑G‑Englar” by Sigur Ros, “Nature Boy” by Nick Cave, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Sinead O’Connor.
What is your pet peeve?
When citizens don’t vote.
What are your UBC highlights?
The Joy of Feeding at UBC Farm, receiving my honorary degree, and organizing many cool events with former LFS Dean Rickey Yada – including our Physics in a Yurt dinner, where guests ate samosas, drank wine, and learned about nuclear fusion as a potential solution to the world’s energy problems.
