Latha has ventured into cyberspace with her own homepage on Ammas.com, a Web site that claims to be the largest online source of South Asian cooking and lifestyle information. Today, as one of the 2,533 'ammas', Latha is revered as an expert on cooking and home issues.

But the original amma chooses to remain away from the limelight. While keeping her location and identity a secret, the site says the following about her initiative: "Once there was a mother living in southern India who never imagined her children would live so far from home. When they moved to countries halfway around the world and missed her cooking, they asked her to post their favourite recipes on the Internet, if only to make them feel a little closer."

The site began in 1996, featuring weekly recipes that amma had learned from her amma, who in turn had learned them from her amma, and so on. They aren't restricted to the Indian subcontinent. A recipe for boondi ke ladoo jostles for attention with one for Russian salad. They also move from the traditional, like a Hyderabadi Rice Chicken, to the unusual paan pakoras.

Today the site also has a search engine for over 36,000 recipes; online shopping services for South Asian products; online courses; nutritional data and tips on cooking, beauty, parenting, marriage, health and more.

About amma's identity, Srinivas Rao, marketing manager of ammas.com, says, "I can say that she's from a village in Andhra Pradesh and that she now lives in Hyderabad. But we try to keep her identity a secret. As long as people appreciate her cooking tips and other motherly advice, why should it matter who she is?"

Amma explains herself in an email: "I am not the only amma using the Internet. There are many mothers online. And many excellent cooks. These days the cookbook publishers only want celebrities. But the best cooks in the world are not necessarily the most celebrated."

Amma, however, is widely celebrated, with her readers and fans increasing. The site currently has around 40,562 recipes and 123,362 articles on lifestyle advice. New advice is added every 4.2 minutes.

The site targets the NRIs and Westerners who consider Indian food exotic. However, it also caters to "South Asians who believe that the real source of information, information that really matters in our daily lives, exists in the minds of our elders." Explains Lakshmi Krishnan, content manager of ammas.com, "Ammas.com is about making that knowledge available to those South Asians who otherwise wouldn't have access to it."

Ammas has now grown into an interactive site, where other ammas like Latha receive their own homepage and publish recipes, newsletters and lifestyle tips. An automated rating system, based on accumulated points and quality review, promotes registered ammas to 'Featured Ammas' and finally, to members of the 'Council of Ammas' in their specific category.

Says Krishnan, "It's a kind of quality control, the idea being that amma may know best, but that the collective amma, the increasing network of ammas, knows even better. This way you can get multiple responses to your query, each one sifted through a ranked system of motherhood. One thousand maternal brains working together to help you with day-to-day living: be it explaining how to cook your favourite food or how to find the right spouse."

"Asking amma is much easier than searching the Web," says Krishnan, "You just ask a question and wait. It's like talking to your computer about anything you want. Only, the information you receive in return is evaluated by knowledgeable sources. No one can sit on the Council of Ammas without having demonstrated a tremendous amount of expertise in their field."

The site has recently opened an 'Amma's School' that offers online courses ranging from 'Amma's Secrets to Cooking Indian Breads' and 'How to Tie a Sari' to fashion, yoga and music. However, recipes remain the most popular feature. They have also been printed by HarperCollins in a 160-page book titled From Indian Village to the Internet.

Yet, despite the site's success and amma's newfound celebrity status, amma has not lost her motherly touch. "I have been visiting amma's site for many months now," states Jim Micciulla, a US-based cooking enthusiast, "It continues to amaze me that in spite of its rapid growth and outstanding commitment to quality, the site has retained such a personal feel. It's really marvelous work."

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh