The current Minister of Defence of our country, Nirmala Sitharaman, has her name engraved in the history of India for being the second woman after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to hold the Defence Minister’s post. However, she is the first woman to hold the office full time as Indira Gandhi had held the office only as an additional charge. Out of the six women cabinet ministers appointed by the current government, we will share some lesser known facts about the Minister of Defence, Nirmala Sitharaman.
1. Nirmala Sitharaman was born in temple town of Madurai
She was born on 18th August 1959 in Madurai. While her father, Narayan Sitharaman, belonged to Musiri in Tiruchirappalli, her mother, Savitri Sitharaman, had her roots in Thiruvenkadu, Salem and Thanjavur districts in Tamil Nadu.
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2. She grew up traveling across Tamil Nadu
Sitharaman was raised in various cities of the state as her father was an employee of the Indian Railways and had a transferable job.
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3. She did her post-graduation from JNU
She did her schooling from Madras and Tiruchirappalli and later completed her BA in Economics from the Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College in Tiruchirappalli. Post that, she pursued a master’s degree from JNU, Delhi in the year 1984. She has done a PhD dissertation on Indo European textile trade as well.
Nirmala Sitharaman as a part of Free Thinkers (FT)campaigning during JNU Students Union elections. Nirmala Sitharaman/Twitter
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4. Her husband is from a family of Congress loyalists
She met her husband Parakala Prabhakar while studying at JNU, who was from a pro-Congress family as his mother was a Congress MLA in Andhra Pradesh and father was a Minister with the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh; although Sitharaman was more inclined towards BJP. The two got married in the year 1986 and have a daughter.
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Nirmala Sitharaman with husband Parakala Prabhakar and mother in law. Parakala Prabhakar/Twitter
5. She worked as a sales girl for a brief period in the UK before joining Price Waterhouse
After marriage, Nirmala Sitharaman moved to UK with her husband. While in UK, Nirmala Sitharaman used to work as a sales girl at Habitat, which is a home décor store in London’s Regent Street. Her dedication towards her work won her a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne as she recorded the highest sales during Christmas.
6. She also worker with the BBC World Service in UK
Apart from that, she also worked with Price Waterhouse, BBC World Service and Agricultural Engineers Association while she was staying in UK.
7. It was for the birth of their daughter that the couple moved back to India
Both Sitharaman and her husband decided to move back to India when they planned to have a baby as they wanted to raise her in India.
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8. She was stuck in the hospital for three days after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination
In the year 1991 when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, due to the ongoing turmoil, she was stuck at a hospital in Chennai for three days after she was recuperating from the delivery. She was rescued and helped in leaving the hospital by a doctor in his car with white flags.
9. Sitharaman started a school in Hyderabad
When the family settled in Hyderabad, Sitharaman started a school for the underprivileged in a village along with a policy research centre in the city.
10. She was active in matters of women empowerment even before the start of her political career
She has also served as a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003 – 2005.
11. It was only in 2008 that she joined BJP
Sitharaman joined BJP in the year 2008 and served as the spokesperson for the party from 2010-2014. In 2014, she was inducted in the Modi government as a Commerce Minister. Post that, she was elected as a Rajya Sabha Member from Andhra Pradesh.
12. Sitharaman and Swaraj had a war of words on Twitter
In the year 2014, she had a public fall-out with Sushma Swaraj on Twitter. While Sitharaman tweeted ‘If only Shushma had stood for Seemaandhra in Lok Sabha just like Venkaiah & Jaitley did today’, Sushma tweeted ‘With Spokespersons like @nsitharaman, u don’t need enemies.’ Although the tweets were deleted soon after, the public knew too much already!
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13. In 2017 she became the 26th person to become Defence Minister since 1947
With her appointment, Nirmala Sitharaman has become the 33rd Defence Minister of India.
14. She is the first JNU alumna to become Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman made news to be the first alumna from the JNU to become Defence Minister of the country.
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15. Every day, she is believed to be up by 7 am to read around 9 newspapers
This daily activity consumes three hours of her time.
16. She is not fluent in Hindi
Sitharaman is aware that Hindi language is one of her weak points although she is exceptionally fluent in English.
17. She is a devotee of Lord Krishna
She likes classical music and is a collector of songs dedicated to Lord Krishna.
While there are many other women who are serving as the Defence Ministers in other countries, India’s Defence Minister definitely has a reputation to live up to and we hope Nirmala Sitharaman keeps on doing a spectacular job!
