Nethra Gomatheswaran Reclaims the Beauty of South Indian Heritage and Community in Love, Paati
First inspired to document her family’s knowledge, Nethra Gomatheswaran embarked on the mission of gathering beauty, health and wellness recipes and rituals from her community in South India. What started as a passion project quickly turned into a love letter to her culture and heritage.
Nethra’s research is now compiled into a gorgeously designed table book titled Love, Paati (Love, Grandma in Tamil, the official language of Tamil Nadu). The publication gathers more than 140 traditional rituals ranging from hair massages and masks to body scrubs and aromatic teas. Part beauty and health encyclopedia, part cookbook, Love, Paati safeguards ancestral wisdom passed down from older generations and offers a glimpse into South Indian traditional knowledge.
Preserving South Asian Tradition
Although she moved to New York seven years ago, product designer and creative director Nethra Gomatheswaran remains connected to her South Indian roots through practices embedded into her everyday life. As she tells EnVi, there’s not a day she doesn’t start her morning with soaked almonds, a recipe that her book attributes benefits such as weight loss, boosting brain function and improving skin.
However, Nethra’s love and appreciation for her culture found new meaning when she embarked on the project that would later give life to Love, Paati. Originally, Nethra’s intention was to document her family’s, and more specifically, her great-grandmother’s knowledge. But the enterprise grew into something bigger.
“My great-grandmother passed when I was very young so we started documenting this with my grandmother. When I started talking to her, I realized she knew a small percentage of what my great-grandmother knew and my mother would know even a smaller percentage of what my grandmother knew,” Nethra says. “While I was talking to my grandmother — she’s 70+ — she told me, I’m forgetting a couple of things. I don’t remember, let’s talk to people from our community. We talked to other people, my friends, my friends’ in-laws, my grandmother’s friends and it slowly spread to the South Indian community.”
Communal memory and oral tradition allowed Nethra to capture South Indian beauty and wellness knowledge in more than 340 pages. Accompanied by compelling storytelling and beautiful photography, the book reflects the richness of Indian culture through natural remedies, health practices and even drink recipes.
“The reason I started in South India is because the rituals are a little bit different from other parts of India,” explains Nethra. “For example, if you take oil-based [rituals and practices], the oil used in one state is probably different from the oil used in another. These small differences are documented in the book. Although a lot of those rituals are not tied to, or constrained to the South, the variations I documented are specific to the region.”
Beauty Beyond Boundaries
Even though Love Paati collects oral tradition and reclaims South Indian practices, Nethra emphasizes that the rituals in the book aren’t confined to a specific gender or nationality. “The important thing to remember is that although these stories are very tied to South India, the rituals can be applied to anyone. They surpass gender norms and can be used by men, women and people of all genders,” she says.
Moreover, she adds, while it’s always important to acknowledge where they come from, the practices can be introduced into anyone’s routines, regardless of nationality. “They’re Indian rituals, but they can be used by everyone,” she explains. “Some of the ingredients are things we’ve already been using on a daily basis or have been eating.”
Indeed, the book compiles natural recipes featuring ingredients easily found in our kitchens. Following Nethra’s grandmother’s motto — if you can put it in your body, you can put it on your body,” the book offers guidance on how to turn everyday products such as yogurt, almonds, papaya or rice water into face masks, cleansers and body scrubs.
“With the book, I want to show people that it’s easy to do these things at home, you don’t always have to depend on other products,” says Nethra.
Glowing From Within
Placing beauty and wellness within reach, Love, Paati also highlights the importance of integral health.
“A lot of the rituals enhance beauty but also enhance how you feel. They make you feel beautiful from the inside out,” Nethra shares. “Many people want [to tackle a skin concern for example] by putting something topically but what causes maybe runs deeper. You want to make sure your system is balanced. There are a lot of rituals in the book that [will help you] glow from within.”
Additionally, the book sheds light on how South Indian culture perceives beauty. While the topic is sometimes labeled as a women-only pursuit or misinterpreted as vanity, their approach transcends appearance concerns.
“People see beauty as an outward thing and as a luxurious thing — [people would say,] I want to indulge myself in some skincare or self-care. But the way it’s done in South India is not seen as indulging,” explains Nethra. “It’s your body you’ve been given to take care of. Taking care of your health, hair or skin is just part of your routine. It’s something you can take care of every single day. and again, it’s not just for women — it’s for men too.”
More Than a Book
In an era of fast-paced information, beauty and wellness dominated by trends and knowledge dilution, Nethra’s work brings ancient practices and the philosophy of Ayurvedic medicine to the forefront.
Reclaiming rituals, celebrating the wisdom of older generations and showcasing her culture, the author delivers more than an elegant book to display on our coffee tables. Love Paati is ultimately a tribute to the knowledgeable people in Nethra’s family and community, as well as an homage to South Indian tradition — all packaged in an exquisite and weighty tome.
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