It takes almost a day to trace and get hold of Shimla Muthuchozhan. It feels like accomplishing an impossible task as her phone keeps ringing off the hook continuously and her daily schedule is packed.
With the DMK choosing her to take on Chief Minister Jayalalithaa from R.K. Nagar, she has been catapulted to fame, and is just getting used to it.
A virtual unknown in politics, Shimla is a lawyer by profession. A mother and a wife, Shimla married into a family with strong links to the DMK — she is the daughter-in-law of former minister Sargunam Pandian — but has not quite been in the public eye before this stroke of luck.
After getting married in 2009, she moved in with her husband and in-laws to their two-bedroom third floor apartment in Tondiarpet in 2009.
“After my father-in-law died, athai [aunt] was lonely. So we decided to stay with her,” she explains.
Traditionally, her family has been associated with the DMK and after marriage she became a devout supporter of the party. Her grandfather had produced and directed the movie Punitha Anthoniar in the 1960s, for which he received blessings from the then Pope, she recalls. Her father, Alfred Benhur, is an automobile dealer while her mother Veerangani is a homemaker.
On the unusual choice of her name, she says: “My mother wanted me to remain cool like the hill station Shimla. I have taken it in my stride well. There are people who have been named after places such as Palani.”
It may come as a surprise but her love of driving cars contributed to her to entry into politics. “I used to drive for my mother-in-law in 2000. Whenever athai travelled, I used to go with her. I participated in protests, attended meetings and interacted with party workers. I conducted health camps for women to raise awareness about cancers of breast and uterus as part of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s 90th birthday,” says the 35-year-old.
Never mind what everyone else thinks of her chances in the election, Ms. Shimla is confident of a victory. The way she sees it, she is from the constituency and “people can access me at any time.” “This locality has been with AIADMK for 15 years and yet they have not been able to provide sewage connection or ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water. I intend to do that when I am elected,” she adds.
