Padma Lakshmi Mourns the Loss of Her Friend

Typically one to keep her personal life fairly private, Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi is openly mourning the sudden loss of a dear friend, Prabuddha Dasgupta.

"Having recently lost my companion, a man I loved very deeply, I ache to think of what she is going through now," Padma writes of Prabuddha's long-term girlfriend, Lakshmi Menon. The famed 58-year-old Indian photographer passed away over the weekend from a heart attack.

"When I first began my modeling career, I knew I wanted to work with Dasgupta, although I seldom worked in India. I always hoped our paths would cross, and over the years I kept track of his work and admired it from afar," she notes. "I soon gave up hope that I would never meet him but then near my 40th birthday this great opportunity came to me very late in my modeling career. Priya Tanna, Vogue India's Editor in Chief, made it happen. And a lifelong dream came true."

From that experience, Padma became friends with the couple and she praises them, "Both Lakshmi and Prabhudhha make all Indians proud, not only for their professional success, but for broadening the global image of what Indians and India look like today. Prabuddha was a great artist, my friend and a mentor to many through his photography. He exalted the female form and showed us what Indian beauty can be in all its facets. The world has lost a visual artist with a unique point of view. It has lost a beautiful soul."