Indian culinary guru chef Soundararajan passes away

IFCA founder gen-sec chef Soundararajan P passes away from a heart attack at the age of 64, remembered by legions of chefs he mentored

Chef Soundararajan P was in uniform when we lost him, participating in a culinary webinar. Founder general secretary of the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA), he was active all through his career, teaching and inspiring chefs, and dedicated to the hospitality industry till the very end. Hailing from Coimbatore, the 64-year-old chef, who passed away from a heart attack, did his Bachelors in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Madras, and then got a degree from the Institute of Hotel Management in Chennai. I was executive chef in one of the Accor hotels in Mumbai in 1999 when I first met him. I still remember a tall chef walking into my kitchen to request me if he could use it for a VIP event. Although he was already a well known chef, I was charmed by how humble he was, and I soon found out how motivating it was to work beside him.