Nalini Chidambaram

Some Lesser Known Facts About Nalini Chidambaram

• Nalini Chidambaram is an advocate of the Madras High Court. She is the wife of the former Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram.

• Her father, P.S. Kailasam, was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, and later, he was appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of India.

• In an interview, she revealed that it was her father, who himself was in the field of the judiciary, had encouraged her to pursue law as a career.
  

• She met P. Chidambaram in the Law Faculty of the University of Madras, and she fell in love with him.

  

• After passing out of college, she had to go through great lengths to practice under someone; as many of the famous lawyers that she had approached (including her own uncle) refused to train her.

• Her father was not willing to get her married to P. Chidambaram; as he was not of the same caste as theirs. Hence, they had to elope and get married.

• After her marriage, she, along with her husband, approached Mr K.K Venugopal. At first, Venugopal had refused to train her, but later, he agreed on the condition that they both would join him together.

• She was not very successful as a lawyer during the initial years of her career. She had got married, and she also had a son, Karti Chidambaram. She took a break when she had her son, and after returning to work, she worked hard and became successful.
  

• She was offered to be a judge several times, but she refused as she had to assist her husband during his election campaigns, and she wanted to keep her say on the political issues of the country.

• Once, she stated-
  

  I enjoy arguing, hence, I decided to be a lawyer rather than a judge”

• She loves politics, but she does not want to be involved in active politics ever.

• Nalini became a senior advocate in 1990, and she is the first woman to be designated as a “Senior Advocate” in “The Madras Bar Association”.
  

• Her mother, Soundara Kailasam, passed away on 16 October 2010, at the age of 83. M. Karunanidhi was among the top leaders who visited to pay his last respects to her.