T’PURAM/@KOCHI : The ‘Vanajappa Family’ WhatsApp group had been flooded with messages. Members across the globe were updating information from trusted news sources. Nithya Raman — the little girl who once played with them on the roads of Ramaswamy Kovil Road in Thiruvananthapuram — had been chosen mayor of Los Angeles. Her elevation in the ‘City of Angels’ was their moment in the sun.
“As a young girl, Nithya was bright and energetic, always keen to read books and hear stories. She remains an avid reader,” says N R Shankaranarayanan, Nithya’s paternal uncle. Nithya was close with five cousins, with whom she spent a good deal of her early years. “South Indian actor Abhirami was part of the kids’ squad. Now, Nithya has made us proud,” says Vidya Shankar, her first cousin.
Nithya’s father Venkitaraman was an employee with Keltron and her mother Sudha worked for Indian Overseas Bank. They lived in the family house in Ramaswamy Kovil Road for four years, before moving to Pattom when her mother got transferred.
When Venkitaraman, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, moved to the US to pursue higher studies, the family shifted back to Sudha’s hometown of Thrissur, where Nithya was born and had completed her early schooling — at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan. Nithya was six when the family followed Venkitaraman to the US and settled in Boston.
“They travelled often to meet family members back home and keep alive their cultural roots,” says T K Devanarayanan, a close relative of Sudha’s from Thrissur.
Nithya went on to graduate in social studies from Harvard University (2003), before completing her postgraduation in urban planning from MIT (2008).
After college, Nithya moved back to India, where at the age of 23, she founded the NGO Transparent Chennai to address the sanitation woes of the people of Chennai. In 2013, she made her way to Los Angeles and spearheaded a neighbourhood movement to eradicate homelessness. Nithya entered the political fray in 2020, contesting for city council. She created history defeating a long-time council member.
Nithya is also an avid dancer. During her stint in India after college, she learned bharatanatyam from acclaimed dancer Leela Samson. “Even after returning to America, she took great efforts to pursue her interest,” Devanarayanan points out. Devanarayanan and members of Nithya’s family are in celebration mode and awaiting her visit to Keralam this month. The 45-year-old is married to Vali Chandrasekharan and the couple has two kids.
