Usha Narayanan, born Tint Tint (; 1922 — 24 January 2008), was the First Lady of India from 1997 to 2002. She was married to

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman "K. R." Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and president of India from 1997 to 2002. Naray ...

, the tenth

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

. Usha Narayanan was India's second foreign-born first lady (also second foreign-born second lady) after

Janaki Venkataraman Janaki Venkataraman (1921 – 13 August 2010) was the First Lady of India from 1987 until 1992. She was the wife of Indian President R. Venkataraman who served as India's head of state from 25 July 1987 until 25 July 1992. Upon her husband's a ...

. She played a key role in women social welfare activities initiated by the presidency.

Early life

Usha Narayanan was born as Tint Tint in 1922, in

Yamethin Yamethin Township is a Townships of Burma, township of Yamethin District in the Mandalay Region of Burma, Burma (Myanmar). The administrative seat and principal city is Yamethin, which is also the major rail stop in the township, and it has a popul ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. She attended

Rangoon University The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

, earning a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. Thereafter, she worked as a lecturing tutor at the Department of Burmese Language and Literature. She continued her graduate studies at the Delhi School of Social Work through a scholarship, earning a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree with a specialty in juvenile delinquency.

Later life

While working in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

(now Myanmar), K. R. Narayanan met Tint Tint, whom he later married in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

on 8 June 1951. Ms Tint Tint was active in the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

and on hearing that Narayanan was a student of Laski, approached him to speak on political freedom before her circle of acquaintances. While K. R. Narayanan and Tint Tint had been born in the same country, the British colony of India, by the time they met they had different citizenship. Their marriage needed a special dispensation from

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

per Indian law, because Narayanan was in the IFS and she was a foreigner. Ms Tint Tint adopted the Indian name ''Usha'' and became an Indian citizen. Usha Narayanan worked on several social welfare programs for women and children in India and had completed her Masters in Social Work from Delhi School of Social Work. She also translated and published several Burmese short stories; a collection of translated stories by Thein Pe Myint, titled ''Sweet and Sour'', appeared in 1998. They have two daughters, Chitra Narayanan (former Indian ambassador to Switzerland, Liechtenstein and

The Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the bishop of the apostolic episcopal see ...

) and Amrita Narayanan.

Death

Usha, who suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

for the last few years of her life, died at the age of 86 on 24 January 2008 at 5:30 pm, at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. She was buried in the Christian Cemetery on Prithivraj Road, Delhi. In 2017, a controversy erupted when her husband's name was also found in her grave.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayanan, Usha 1922 births 2008 deaths People from Mandalay Region First ladies and gentlemen of India Second ladies and gentlemen of India Burmese emigrants to India Naturalised citizens of India Indian people of Burmese descent University of Yangon alumni Burmese social workers Burmese translators Indian social workers

Early life

Later life

Death

See also

References