She’s vivacious, effervescent and pretty…meet Vanathi Srinivasan the General Secretary of Tamil Nadu BJP
Interview by: JULIANA SRIDHAR
Born in a traditional, agricultural family in Coimbatore to Mr. Kandaswamy and Mrs. Poovathal, Vanathi Srinivasan, the General Secretary of Tamil Nadu, BJP did her school proud with a first rank in the tenth grade board exams from a Government School, Thondamathur in Coimbatore. Being an all rounder she had oratorical skills and also excelled in drama, quiz and essay writing. She was good in sports as well and was the captain of the volleyball and kho kho teams.
She graduated in Chemistry from the PSG Arts and Science College in Coimbatore and came out with flying colours. She was awarded the Best Student of the College. She proceeded to study Law at the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College in Chennai. Her Masters degree in International and Constitutional Law was acquired at the Madras University. Right from her student days, Vanathi became interested in politics. She was greatly inspired by the ideologies of Bharathiyar and Swami Vivekananda. She joined the student wing of the RSS namely the Akhil Bharathiyar Vidyarthi Parishad in 1990 but came into active politics only in 1999.
Vanathi’s legal career took wings in 1993 in the Madras High Court under the dynamic tutelage of Shri. B.S. Gnanadesikan, Senior Advocate. She is married to Srinivasan, a renowned lawyer practicing in Chennai. He recently served as the Union Government Assistant Solicitor General in the Madras High Court. The lawyer couple has two sons – the older one Adarsh, an alumni of St. Bedes is now pursuing a degree in engineering in PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore. Besides being an ace cricketer he also has a black belt in karate. The younger son Kailash is a student at APL Global School in Chennai. He is also an upcoming cricketer and an avid drummer. He plans to don the black gown shortly. Vanathi’s only sibling, younger brother Shivakumar is a software professional settled in the US.
In 2010, she was a Special Invitee for the U.S. State Development for Young Leaders Programme. Vanathi has been making waves in her legal career and was awarded the Best Woman Lawyer award by the Women Lawyers Association in 2012. She likes reading during her spare time. She likes watching comedy films and her comfort food is an all Coimbatore Special- Ragi vada, Idli with curd and tomato chutney and arasi paruppu. She travels a lot and her tour schedule includes Coimbatore, Salem and Erode. She manages to juggle home, her legal career and political career with ease. Though it was no cakewalk when her sons were growing up, now that they are grown up, she has more time on her hands. Her mantra for success is prioritisation.
