Trump a menace to society, says Padma Lakshmi

She was speaking in a session at the 8th Mountain Echoes literary festival

Slamming American president Donald Trump, TV host and author Padma Lakshmi today slammed American president Donal Trump calling him a "menace to the society" who was "defiling the seat he holds".

"I think he is a menace to our society, I apologise but I actually tried everything I could to stop him from soiling this most sacred seat in our country.

"I really find him to be a plague on the very basic human decency that America was based on. I don't think he has any ideology except the ideology of Donald Trump and that's a very dangerous thing," Padma Lakshmi, who had campaigned for Hillary Clinton for the presidential elections against Trump, said.

She was speaking at a session titled, "Mistress of Spices" at the 8th Mountain Echoes literary festival here.

The model turned author, who had known Trump before the latter became the US president, said that she found him to be a "little buffoonish" and "tacky" earlier and she had hoped he would not get elected.

"I have known Donald Trump personally. I don't know him well but I have known him for a very long time. He lives in New York and we were often at the same parties and etcetera. I never took him that seriously.

"Earlier I thought Donald Trump was tacky, showy and nouveau rich and he was like many men with a little power trying to get as many chicks as you could with it," she said.

Earlier in the day, Padma Lakshmi had attended a session titled "Woman Up", where she along with journalist-author Barkha Dutt, Amrita Tripathi, archaeologist Kuenga Wangmo talked about women issues in their respective professions.

Taking examples from her own professional career, she underlined the need for women being recognised for their work and not looks.

The Indian-American television host recalled her journey from being part of a female-dominated fashion industry to making her way into a male-dominated food industry where she was continuously judged for her looks.

"I am a brown woman working in a white men's world. And in fact, when I first started, they used to say what would a model know about food. But, now I work with big international chefs on my show. But it is true that you have to earn your place at the table.

"My skin is brown and I love the way it looks. It is my identity. We live in a body we have been given. And then there is a lot of focus put on my weight... It just makes me a little angry. I want to be counted on for my work and not because of my mere presence. My presence is there because I earned it," she said.