Meet Dr. Charulatha Devendran, (aka) Monica Devendran who lives in the UK and who created history in becoming the first British Indian from Chennai to represent the pre historic Amesbury in the County Hall.
Born to businessman Devendran and academician Geetha, Charulatha grew up in a close knit family in Chennai. While her father held the post of Managing Director of Global Group of Companies, her mother is a Retired Principal of Quaide- Milleth Arts College, Chennai.
Charulatha schooled at CSI Ewarts at Purasawalkam where she excelled in academics and went on to pursue her degree in Dental Surgery at the Meenakshi Ammal Dental College in Chennai. She was encouraged and nurtured by her professors as they spotted a lot of latent talent in this ambitious student. Charulatha was always interested in doing research and while at college, she presented many scientific papers and posters at various Dental Conferences. She recalls with pride how one such research paper that she prepared under the able guidance of her Physiology Professors Dr. Kesavelu and Dr. Rahmatullah on the Role of Dental Caries with ABO Blood Groups won the best paper award.
After completing her studies, Charulatha worked as a senior Resident Officer in India and also practiced as a Dental Surgeon before she got married and shifted base to the UK where she worked for Integrated Dental Holdings for a short while. The entrepreneur in her made her start an organization named Graviton International in 2014. She then began her journey as a successful entrepreneur. This company is Europe’s leading Business Intelligence, Knowledge, Flagship Awards & Conference producing organization for connecting Industry Leaders, C-level executives and Business Professionals to brainstorm, share experiences, promote business and partake in exclusive power networking session in a flexible and dynamic platform through research based flagship events in Pharma/ Biotech/ IT/ Dental and Business Meetings with headquarters in London, United Kingdom.
In addition to this, she holds the post of President of the World Dental Council which is an International Organization that promotes dentistry across the globe through scientific conferences and networking with the dental leaders. She relates about one of the most remarkable achievements of this Council was that it hosted a Dental Conference and Exhibition in Chennai, India at the ITC Grand Chola which witnessed more than 1500 participants from across the globe. With a glint of pride, she discloses that she was the Organising Chairperson for the Conference in which the Hon’ble Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit presided and inaugurated the Asia Series.
Charulatha is also the President of the International Awards of Excellence that hosts Dental/Pharma awards for Industry Leaders and professionals who strive hard in their respective fields. She is the first Indian born British Citizen to host the IAE & British Dental Awards Ceremony at the British Parliament in the year 2019 along with Members of Parliament, Diplomats and Dental Leaders across the globe.
This is not all, Charulatha nurtured a dream of entering politics to be the voice of the people. This dream became a reality when she was nominated by the Conservative Party to stand for the post of a Unitary Councillor to represent the people at the County Hall. She underwent a selection process and was given a seat at Amesbury West. Here too, she has a first to her credit as she is the first Indian born British Citizen to stand as councillor candidate for Amesbury West representing the Conservative Party. She was pitted against candidates from the Green Party, Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats but managed to win hands down and polled the majority of 62.5 % of the vote share.
Charulatha is grateful to the Prime Minister of UK- Boris Johnson, Ministry of State Treasury- John Glen MP, Wiltshire Conservative Leader Richard Clewer and Conservative Party members for giving her this opportunity and to all the people of Amesbury who reposed their trust in her and voted for her.
Coming to the personal front, Charulatha is married to Prem Kumar who besides being her better half is also her best friend, philosopher and guide. He is an experienced scientist who currently works for the UK Government as a Scientist for Clinical Molecular Microbiology specializing in rare and important pathogens such as Covid-19, Ebola etc.
The couple has an adorable 8 year old daughter- Natasha who is in Class 3 in a school in Amesbury. It is not surprising that she has taken after her parents and is multi talented too. Natasha loves to draw, paint and swim.
Charulatha’s only sibling is sister Beulah who is also a dentist and is based in New Zealand. Beulah is the Director of Smiletastic and is married to Adrian Lawrence. They have a cute 4 year old girl named Samarah.
With Charulatha’s hands full with so many activities, she still manages to spend time with her daughter and goes either for a stroll to the nearby lake or for a swim with her daughter. She also loves globe trotting and has recently visited Amsterdam, Pisa, Malta, Venice, Rome, Disneyland, Paris and Dubai.
When it comes to food, she says that nothing can beat her hubby’s Mutton dum biryani. She also fancies an English Roast dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Charulatha has a chic, classy dressing sense and loves to wear gowns. She usually goes in for big labels and designer stuff and admits that her better half has an impeccable taste in clothes and so picks up most of her outfits.
When I asked her to disclose her mantra for success, she quipped “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Charulatha is a total workaholic and enjoys being one. She does not believe in giving excuses. She loves to work in challenging situations with deadlines et al. She excels in multitasking and credits her family not only for being a source of inspiration but also for bringing out the best in her.
Juliana Sridhar is a lawyer and columnist
Great article on a great personality.
Well written👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾