C H I T R A D I V A K A R U N I | S P I C E O F L I F E
calcutta-born Chitra Divakaruni lives in Sunnyvale, Calif., with her husband, Murthy, and two sons, Anand and Abhay. She teaches at Foothill College and is the president of MAITRI, a help line for South Asian women. Chitra's poetry has won a number of awards, including a Pushcart Prize and an Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, and her first book of fiction, the short story collection "Arranged Marriage," received an American Book Award, a PEN Oakland Award and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association Award. Her first novel, "The Mistress of Spices," was published earlier this year.