Nirmala Seetharaman, the pride of Tiruchi

Most Tiruchites were glued to the television on Sunday as the ‘daughter of the soil’ Nirmala Seetharaman took oath as the Defence Minister of the nation.

She is the second woman Defence Minister of the country after the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who held the post.

Faculties and students of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College where the new Defence Minister had studied B.A. Economics from 1977 to 1980, were on cloud nine.

Institutions in Tiruchi have always had the pride of place for having shaped the future of two former Presidents R. Venkataraman and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who had their moorings in National College and St. Joseph's College respectively.

The student days of Ms. Nirmala Seetharaman at SRC was as much impressive, recalled Usha Chandrasekar, retired Head of English Department.

Ms. Seetharaman had a continuous association with the English Department as an active participant in debates, discussions and quiz competitions, Prof. Usha said.

The self-confidence and leadership material in her was very much evident even then, she said.

Ms. Nirmala had visited the college twice since 2011. When she visited for the first time during 2011, Ms. Seetharaman was the spokesperson of BJP.

Last year, the faculty and students had the privilege of interacting with her as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

During her 2011 visit, Ms. Seetharaman was elated to meet a few of her former teachers, and shared with them nostalgic memories of her student days.

She had thanked the teachers for shaping her overall personality.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/nirmala-seetharaman-the-pride-of-tiruchi/article19618658.ece