Check out Nirmala Sitharaman's journey from sales girl in London to becoming finance minister

August 18 marks the 61st birthday of India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

She was born on August 18, 1959, in a middle-class family in Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. Her father Narayan Sitharaman worked in the Railways, thus she spent her childhood in different parts of Tamil Nadu. Her mother’s name is Savitri Sitharaman.

She is the first woman in India to hold the office as the full-time finance minister. Before that, Indira Gandhi, between 1970-71, also handled this position as an additional responsibility while also serving as the Prime Minister of the country.

Sitharaman was the first woman to be appointed full-time Defence Minister of India in September 2017. She handled the ministry during the first term of the Modi government.

In JNU while completing her studies, she met Parakala Prabhakar whose family has several Congress leaders. Later in 1986 she got married to him and went to London.

After moving to London, she worked as the Senior Manager of Research and Analysis with Price Waterhouse. However, before joining Price Waterhouse (PWC), for a brief period, she worked as a salesgirl at Habitat, which is a home decor store in London regent Street.

Sitharaman joined the BJP in 2006. She was appointed as a spokesperson for the party in 2010 and came to be known as the voice and face of the party.

Before starting her political journey with BJP, Sitharaman was a member of the National Women Commission from 2003 to 2005.

During her stay in London, she had also worked for the BBC World Service for some time.

Sitharaman is a music enthusiast and listens to classical music from time-to-time. In addition to this, she also likes reading.