Jeevan Thondaman loses his ‘Eligible Bachelor’ status on 23 November

Jeevan Thondaman and his bride-to-be Seethai

In becoming a Cabinet Minister Jeevan set a record of his own. Jeevan Thondaman born on 9 November 1994 was  the youngest cabinet minister to have assumed office in Sri Lanka. Earlier that record was held by  Ranil Wickremesinghe. himself. In an ironic turn of events, Ranil  helped Jeevan break his own record. Ranil born on 24 March 1949 was 29 years and 5 months old when he was appointed as cabinet minister of Youth affairs and Employment by the then President J.R. Jayewardene in September 1978. Jeevan was 28 years and 2 months old when he was sworn in as cabinet minister by President Ranil Wickremesinghe

The 99th birth anniversary of “Bhagwan” Sathya Sai Baba will be observed on  Sunday 23 November. 

The day will be of great significance to millions of Baba devotees throughout the world. It will however be  a red letter day for Ceylon Workers Congress General-secretary and Nuwara Eliya district parliamentarian Jeevan Thondaman who bids farewell to  bachelorhood on that day.

Jeevan Kumaravel Thondaman known as Jeevan Thondaman and Jeevan will tie the traditional wedding necklace “Thali” (mangalsutra) around the neck of  Seethai Srii Naachiar Rameswaran amidst the reverberating crescendo of  the “Kettimelam” wedding drum roll on 23. 

The  marriage ceremony will take place  during the auspicious hour  from 10.15 to 11.15 a.m. 

at the Arumugam Pillai Seethaiammaal College  campus  of Thiruppathur in the Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu state in India.

A large number of dignitaries from Sri Lanka including former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe are expected to attend the wedding at Thiruppathur. Among  fellow MPs  who will be present are Mano Ganesan and Shanakiyan Rasamanickam. After the wedding and related ceremonies are over, a reception will be held at the Grand Ballroom of the Colombo Hilton Hotel  on 28 November. 

Another reception would be held in Kotagala also

Jeevan Thondaman was first elected to Parliament from the Nuwara Eliya district in August 2020. He served as a state minister and later as cabinet minister. Jeevan was re-elected to Parliament in 2024. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) General Secretary who was born on 9 November 1994 has for long been regarded as a most eligible bachelor. This  Sunday will mark the end of Jeevan’s eligible bachelor status.

Seethai Srii Naachiar or Seethai the maiden who bowled  Jeevan over is a 4th year medical student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland(RCSL) medical university in Dublin.  Both their families are well known to each other and the marriage was an “arranged” union initiated by Jeevan’s mother Rajalakshmi Thondaman.  Incidentally Jeevan’s father Arumugan and Seethai’s father Rameswaran are alumni of the Montfort Boys School at Yercaud in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu. 

Great grandfathers 

The association  between both families  goes back a long way and is due to the  friendship between  the groom’s great grandfather Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman and the bride’s great grandfather NTS Arumugam Pillai. Both  Thondaman and Arumugam Pillai hail from Sivagangai district in the Tamil Nadu state of India. 

Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman’s ancestral village Munapudur is about 6 km away from Arumugam Pillai’s village Thiruppathur. Both great grandfathers are no more but the links between both families remain strong and have manifested in the marriage between both great grandchildren. This is manifested clearly in the invitations which give pride of place to both great grandfathers.

Interestingly enough both Jeevan and his bride-to-be Seethai were born in the same hospital St Johns Medical Centre in Karaikudi in different years. Both had the same Obstetrician helping in their delivery. Also both  babies and their mothers were warded in the same room at the hospital.

Another similarity between both families is that the   great grandfathers of the bride and groom left their  respective villages and established themselves successfully in two different countries. In the case of Thondaman it was his father Karuppiah Kumaravel who  came over to Sri Lanka known as Ceylon during British colonial rule. He rose up in life through hard work and business acumen and acquired several estates including Wavendon in Ramboda. His son Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman  who  came to Sri Lanka in 1926  at the age of 13  from Munapudur  went on to become a powerful trade unionist and political leader in Sri Lanka.

NTS Arumugam Pillai

In the case of NTS Arumugam Pillai, he  left Thiruppathur  at the age of 14 and went over to Malaysia known as Malaya during British rule in 1929. Arunugam Pillai engaged in commerce and  established  himself in  the real estate sphere. He became a prominent  land owner and plantation proprietor over the years. Arunugam Pillai donated land and helped construct several temples and schools in Malaysia. He served as the Penang state president of the Malaysian Indian Congress for some years and also published a Tamil daily newspaper “Thamil Malar”. Arumugam Pillai  who was honoured with the “Dato” title by the Malaysian Govt has a road -Jalan Arumugam Pillai-named after him in Penang.

Arumugam Pillai also set up a University college in his native village Thiruppattur in 1965. It was named  after his wife as Arumugam Pillai Seethai Ammal College. It is affiliated with the Alagappa University in Karaikudi,Tamil Nadu. The Seethai Amman College is currently administered by Arumugam Pillai’s grandson  and Jeevan Thondaman’s future father in law Rameswaran. The  Seethai Srii-Jeevan wedding will  take place within the Seethai Amman College precincts.

“Political families”

The rise and growth of ‘political families’ is a common occurrence in Sri  Lanka. Ever since the island known formerly as Ceylon gained limited forms of representative democracy through the Legislative and State Councils during British rule, the practice of members of the same family seeking posts through elections became widely-prevalent. The advent of Parliamentary elections coupled with freedom from colonial bondage saw the political dynasty phenomenon gain further mileage. Political families began proliferating at multiple levels from local authorities to the supreme legislature. 

Family politics is now a familiar feature of Sri  Lanka’s political landscape cutting across race, religion, caste and creed. A perusal of a list of Sri Lankan political families in alphabetical order starting from the Abdul Majeeds of the East and going down to the Yapa Abeywardenas of the South would reveal that ethnicity is no bar to political family bandyism in Sri  Lanka. 

There are various types of political dynasties at different levels from the national, provincial, divisional and electoral levels. There are also different degrees of pedigree and vintage in these dynasties.

The most prominent political family among Tamils of Indian origin called “Malaiyahath Thamizhar”or Hill Country Tamils is the Thondaman family. Jeevan belongs to the fourth generation of this family. The Thondman family has played and continues to play an important role in the political affairs of Sri Lanka in general and the “Malaiyahath Thamizhar”(Hill Country Tamils) in particular. 

Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman

The  political dynasty’s founder , “plantation patriarch” Saumiyamoorthy (spelt as Savumimoorthy and Saumyamurthy also) Thondaman was for several decades the undisputed leader of the CWC which has been for long, the largest Trade Union cum political party representing the estate workers/ up country Tamils of Sri Lanka. He has been both an elected and appointed member of Parliament and Cabinet minister for many years. His son Ramanathan Thondaman was elected to the Central Provincial Council and served as a provincial minister. 

Arumugan Thondaman

Saumiyamoorthy’s grandson and Ramanathan’s son Arumugan Thondaman was also a prominent political leader. He was elected to Parliament from the Nuwara Eliya district continuously from 1994 to 2020. In addition to being the CWC leader, Arumugan has been a cabinet minister for many years.

Arumugan’s only son Jeevan Thondaman who was elected an MP after his father’s demise in 2020 has  served as a state minister and cabinet minister. He is also the CWC General-Secretary. Arumugan’s nephew (sister Aadhilakshmi’s son) Senthil Thondaman is also in politics and was a minister in the Uva provincial council. Senthil also served as 

Eastern province Governor for a while. He is presently the CWC President. Thus two cousins, both of them great grandsons of S. Thondaman, are leading the CWC currently.

Arumugan Thondaman  married Rajalakshmi  Natarajan of Thanjaavoor They have three children. The eldest two daughters Kothai Nachiar and Vijayalakshmi studied medicine.. Both are married with children. The youngest Jeevan was born on 9 November 1994. 

After kindergarten and grade one at Gateway Primary School in Colombo, Jeevan joined the Lady Andal Venkata Subba Rao school in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in grade two. After studying up to grade 12 in the Chennai school, Jeevan went to the Chinmaya International Residential School in Coimbatore for a year. 

University of Northumbria

Thereafter he enrolled for an LLB degree at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. He graduated with a law degree in 2017 and interned in a lawyer’s office in London with the intention of sitting for his bar at law exams later.

Jeevan’s ambition was to become a lawyer. At one point he returned to Sri Lanka with the idea of enrolling at the Law College in Sri Lanka. Appa Arumugan however took him into CWC folds and involved him in trade union activity. Jeevan was placed in charge of the CWC youth division. 

Being young himself, Jeevan understood and empathised with the aspirations of the younger generation of up country Tamils. This made him a successful CWC youth leader. Arumugan also wanted the son to enter active politics and contest elections but Jeevan had steadfastly refused to do so. 

Traumatic experience

Life changed drastically for Jeevan when his father Arumugan passed away suddenly due to a heart attack in May 2020. It was a traumatic experience for the son as the last word uttered by the father as he collapsed was “Jeevan”.

In accordance with custom, Jeevan shaved his head to perform the last rites. The massive outpouring of grief for Arumugan demonstrated the support he enjoyed among the up country Tamils despite the negative portrayal by sections of the media.

Subsequently,  party, trade union ,family members and friends wanted Jeevan to contest elections in Nuwara Eliya district as a substitute for his father. Jeevan adhered to their wishes. In June 2020 , Jeevan was elected unanimously as CWC General Secretary. The CWC contested the August 2020 elections on the SLPP list. 

Both Jeevan and his bride-to-be Seethai were born in the same hospital St Johns Medical Centre in Karaikudi in different years. Both had the same Obstetrician helping in their delivery. Also both  babies and their mothers were warded in the same room at the hospital. Another similarity between both families is that the   great grandfathers of the bride and groom left their  respective villages and established themselves successfully in two different countries

Nuwara Eliya  MP

The 5’9 tall Jeevan with features resembling South Indian actor Siddharth became hugely popular with voters. Jeevan Thondaman’s baptism of fire in electoral politics was the 2020 Parliamentary poll. The CWC election campaign was led by him. He topped the preferences in Nuwara Eliya district with 109,155 votes. Jeevan who was the youngest member of Parliament then was appointed  State Minister of Estate Housing and Community Infrastructure in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Govt.

When the “Aragalaya” protests escalated in 2022, the CWC pulled out of the Gota Government, Jeevan resigned his post. However the CWC with two MPs (Jeevan and Marudhupandy Rameshwaran) was among the first to extend support when Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister and later the President. Though he was offered a State Minister post, Jeevan declined it. He bided his time waiting for a Cabinet Minister post instead. It was in a way, a political gamble.

The gamble paid off when Jeevan Thondaman was inducted as Cabinet Minister into the Government headed by then President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Jeevan was sworn in as the Cabinet Minister in charge of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development by Wickremesinghe  on 19 January 2023. 

Youngest Cabinet Minister

In becoming a Cabinet Minister Jeevan set a record of his own. Jeevan Thondaman born on 9 November 1994 was  the youngest cabinet minister to have assumed office in Sri Lanka. Earlier that record was held by  Ranil Wickremesinghe. himself. In an ironic turn of events, Ranil  helped Jeevan break his own record. Ranil born on 24 March 1949 was 29 years and 5 months old when he was appointed as cabinet minister of Youth affairs and Employment by the then President J.R. Jayewardene in September 1978. Jeevan was 28 years and 2 months old when he was sworn in as cabinet minister by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Thaippongal

In January 2024, minister Jeevan Thondaman organised a cultural event in Hatton to celebrate Thai Pongal. Popular South Indian actresses Aishwarya Rajesh, Aishwarya Dutta, Samyuktha Menon, and Meenakshi  attended the event.  The crowds of people participating  welcomed the beautiful stars warmly. Several opposition politicians criticized Jeevan strongly for this, calling it ‘wasteful expenditure.”

Jeevan Thondaman responded to the  criticism  by  saying that the event had been organised by several State institutions as the National Thai Pongal Festival and that the South Indian actresses had been invited for the event  to promote tourism. He further stated that the participation of South Indian actresses  helped improve  relations between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu and served to help   empower women in the up-country region.

The Thai Pongal controversy took an amusing turn when the actresses returned to India. They praised Jeevan lavishly. The most popular actress of the quartet Aishwarya Rajesh gushed to the Indian media about Jeevan. Earlier while addressing the Pongal event in Hatton, Aishwarya had singled out Jeevan for praise as one of the world’s youngest and smartest cabinet ministers. Jeevan was at the receiving end of much humour as a result. 

Young Global Leader

In April 2024, the World Economic Forum (WEF)  announced its list  of Young Global Leaders Community: The Class of 2024, a distinguished group of individuals recognised for their exceptional contributions to shaping the future and driving positive change worldwide. Among the 2024 winners was  Sri Lanka’s Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Minister Jeevan Kumaravel Thondaman. He was listed under the Public Figures category. The Class of 2024 represented a diverse array of rising stars hailing from various sectors including politics, business, civil society, the arts and academia. 

Elephant symbol

The 2024 Presidential elections saw Jeevan and the CWC back Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ranil lost and the JVP led NPP chief Anura Kumara  Dissanayake won. In the 2024 Parliamentary elections, the CWC contested under the Elephant symbol of the UNP. Jeevan was re-elected from Nuwara Eliya with a much reduced tally of 46,438 preference votes. Jeevan now sits in the Opposition and is “nominally” the head of the UNP in Parliament.

In the local authority elections of May 2025, the CWC had 62 of their candidates elected to the various divisional, urban and municipal councils  they contested. In an unexpected move, the CWC aligned with the NPP to form administrations in several councils in the hill country areas. This decision was largely due to Jeevan Thondaman. The Nuwara Eliya MP also voted in support of the 2026 Budget on account of the Rs. 1,750 daily wage announced by the Government.

It is against this political backdrop that the young Tamil leader from the hill country is getting married on Sunday. This column extends its congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple Jeevan Kumaravel Thondaman and Seethai Srii Naachiar Rameswaran.

(The author can be reached via email at [email protected].)