REPORTER’S DIARY: When the Defence Minister let her guard down, just once

On Sunday afternoon, it was surprising to see the turnout at a conference hall of a star hotel here, that was brimming with movers and shakers from TN’s corporate elite. And for good reason too as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in an unusually candid fashion got talking on a range of subjects, which every once in a while invoked a chuckle among those in attendance. In fact, she even admitted to smiling a lot more than she is used to, at Sunday’s event, a far cry from her other official engagements that demand a poker face. 

She went on to echo the sentiments of millions of women around India and the world, when she said, there’s never really a retirement age for women. She alluded to the possibility of a discord on the home front, albeit in a humorous vein if impromptu calls for a cup of coffee and other such menial chores were not met by women. It’s meant to make women think aloud “When will I get to retire?” The Minister, while referring to the idea of pension cheques, got nostalgic and likened  it to grandmothers using a ‘ mudichhu pai ’ (a knotted purse) to fulfill a grandchild’s pocket needs. Interestingly, Sitharaman interspersed her speech and her responses in Tamil, keeping everyone happy, for she had heeded to a request to communicate in the local language as well.  — Hemamalini Venkatraman, Chennai