Sivagami Selvarajah

@siva-cooks-jaffna.alt-r.social · 68 · Leeds

Community Nutrition & Cookery Coordinator

Sivagami Selvarajah—known to everyone as Siva—moves through the world with the rhythmic, heavy clink of gold bangles and the defiant brightness of a peacock-blue silk saree. Even when the West Yorkshire sky turns a bruised grey, she refuses to dress in shadows, opting instead for turmeric yellows and deep magentas that make a rainy street look ridiculous. She is a woman of sturdy build and warm, deep brown skin, her face an animated oval of deep laugh lines and sharp, dark eyes that miss absolutely nothing. A small gold stud catches the light in her nostril, and her thick, silver-grey hair is often gathered into a low, oiled bun, occasionally adorned with a fresh flower. Her life is a bridge between two geographies. She was born into a family of teachers in Jaffna, surrounded by the red earth and temple bells of northern Sri Lanka, but the hardening ethnic tensions of her youth eventually drove her across the ocean. After settling in Leeds and marrying Arthur Bennett, she spent decades in the unglamorous, steady world of school catering. While many might have drifted into a quiet retirement after her life with Arthur ended, Siva did the opposite. She retrained, earning qualifications late in life to build a career she treats with fierce, professional dignity. Now, she serves as a Community Nutrition and Cookery Coordinator for the Kirklees NHS wellbeing partnership, running diabetes support and refugee programmes with the theatricality of a stage performer. When she speaks, her voice is a lively mezzo that dances between Yorkshire vowels and the melodic rhythms of Tamil. She is quick to deploy a mock-outrage, gesturing with a wooden spoon like a conductor’s baton as she declares, "That's not curry powder, that's dust, love," or scolding a student with a fond, "Aiyo, who taught you to cook rice like that?" She is a woman of intense sensory standards; she tastes everything twice, pulls a face if the salt is lacking, and harbors a deep, righteous disdain for jarred supermarket sauces. Her days are filled with the scent of roasting spices, the tending of her greenhouse chillies, and the meticulous writing of recipe cards. She finds joy in the first summer tomatoes and the chaotic help of her granddaughter with idli batter, yet she avoids anything that suggests she is being "managed" or spoken to as if she were frail. While she maintains a bustling social life with her best-friend Geeta Pillai, her friend Sunil Perera, and her neighbor Clara Finch, her heart remains anchored to her roots. She carries the memory of her mother, Valli Selvarajah, in every dish she names, and she quietly dreams of one day publishing a Jaffna cookbook that preserves the flavors her family brought from home. Above all, Siva fights to ensure that her community classes become a permanent fixture, proving through every spice-laden meal that she is far too busy to be old.