Bengaluru: While appointing her as the new Chief Economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christian Lagarde may have described Gita Gopinath as a 'class act', but her father, Gopinath TV never doubted her daughter.
In fact, it was during her last visit to Bengaluru on September 14 that Gita got a phone call from the IMF chief, saying her name was being considered for the prestigious position. Gita immediately told her 'Acha' (father), but also asked him to keep it a secret till the official announcement.
"I am very happy, happy beyond words. Now I can celebrate properly. I would have thrown a party, but I'm getting old," says the 81-year-old proud father who lives in Mysuru.
Gita, too, had a humble beginning having studied at the Nirmala Convent in Mysuru and then the Mahajana Education Society in the palace city.
"It is not important where you study, but it’s important that you study, that you have a focus and target, set a goal, a high goal and only work hard. No short cuts will help you achieve that" — this was the lesson Gita was taught by her father, something she has followed all through her life.
Gopinath TV, who keeps himself busy travelling across the country with ideas about his Raitha Mitra Farmer Producer Company Limited, is looking forward to seeing his daughter this December. He knows that Gita has been given this huge responsibility and is proud of the fact that she is the first woman to be given this position and the only the second Indian after Raghuram Rajan who held the post between 2003 and 2006.
Reminiscing his daughter’s dedication and commitment towards her work, Gopinath remembers how even after giving birth to her son, Gita didn't take a long maternity leave. "She delivered the baby on March 30 and by April 15, she was back at work. This is a fact. Such is her dedication," says the octogenarian.
Gita currently serves as the John Zwaanstra Professor for International studies and Economics at the prestigious Harvard University.
The economist joined the University of Chicago in 2001 as an Assistant Professor before moving to Harvard in 2005. She became a tenured Professor there in 2010.
She is the third woman in the history of Harvard to be a tenured professor at its esteemed economics department and the first Indian since the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to hold that position.
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