Who Are Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's Parents? They Fled to Canada as War Refugees

After fleeing the Sri Lankan civil war, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's parents raised her and her brother to be conscious and know their culture. Now, their daughter proudly wears her South Asian identity and represents her community on her hit Netflix show.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is of Sri Lankan origin and has risen to prominence for her witty and likable character in "Never Have I Ever." Although the Netflix series was the actress's first acting experience, she hit the ground running and has been the face of the show for four seasons.

Before welcoming their daughter, the actress's father, Ram Selvarajah, and mother, Kiruthiha Kulendiren, fled Sri Lanka due to the civil war. And although their daughter spent her life in Canada, they ensured she clung to her roots and is proud of her South Asian ethnicity.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan's Ethnicity and Nationality is Important to Her

Born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Ramakrishnan had aspirations of becoming an animator—due to her love of Disney and Marvel Comics—when she was a little girl. However, only a year before landing the lead role in "Never Have I Ever," she caught the acting bug.

After a friend saw a casting call for the Netflix series, the actress sent through an audition tape before receiving an invite out to Los Angeles. And after further auditioning and camera testing, she was hand-picked over 15,000 other girls to play the role of Devi.

Since skyrocketing to fame, Ramakrishnan revealed that she had no plans of shortening her 20-character name. "If you can say the character names in 'Game Of Thrones,' you can say my Tamil name," she humorously said.

After it was announced that Ramakrishnan would star in "Never Have I Ever," she was described as a Tamil-Canadian, which the actress shared was very important to her. She said:

"I made it very clear to my agent and publicist that Tamil-Canadian is very, very important to me."

Ramakrishnan has since gone on to represent more people who look like her, admitting that there were only a few South Asian actors to look up to. "If there's not many out there already, then I guess I should be there," Ramakrishnan said.

Her Parents Fled to Canada as Refugees of War

Following the Sri Lankan Civil War, Selvarajah and Kulendiren fled Sri Lanka and arrived in Canada as refugees. Their daughter was a little older when she learned of the politics and war in her country of origin.

During an interview, Ramakrishnan recalled her first protest. In the late 2000s, she and her siblings joined her mother and other members of the Tamil community on Mother's Day to protest at the Gardiner Expressway in Canada.

The Tamils were protesting to raise awareness of the war crimes that were taking place in Sri Lanka. Kulendiren said:

"You know our stories. We're displaced not by choice but by circumstances. We consciously raised them so that our stories wouldn't define them."

Due to the conflict in Sri Lanka and the impact of the civil war on Tamil citizens, Ramakrishnan does not identify as Sri Lankan. However, she values her Tamil heritage and consciously identifies as Tamil rather than Sri Lankan. "My identity isn't being Sri Lankan. That's not my country. My country is Canada. But my culture is definitely Tamil," she said.

Her Parents Both Have Social Media

At the time of writing, Selvarajah had over 500 followers on Instagram. However, despite his daughter's fame, he has kept a low profile and shares no pictures of Ramakrishnan on his social media.

Selvarajah holds the position of a systems analyst and serves as the team lead for the government of Ontario. He started the role in August 2012, and his career in government has lasted 14 years, dating back to January 2008.

While there are different reports about what Kulendiren does for a living—some reports state her occupation is unknown while others say she works in marketing—she often proves she is her daughter's biggest fan on Twitter.

Kulendiren's Twitter account is flooded with retweets from her famous daughter's Twitter account, which documents Ramakrishnan's career highlights and red-carpet appearances.

On March 13, 2023, Kulendiren retweeted a picture of her daughter looking stunning in a black gown at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar party. And on March 23, 2023, the proud mom celebrated her daughter again as she walked the carpet in a chic number at another public event.

Kulendiren is not the only one championing her daughter, as the actress's role in Mindy Kaling's "Never Have I Ever" meant a lot for other members of the Tamil community as well. Ramakrishnan said:

"I want other Tamils all over the world to feel pride that Tamil people are making it. We are doing it. And we are awesome."

Maitreyi Is a 'Sap' and Has 'Younger-Sibling Energy'

Although Ramakrishnan plays an only child in "Never Have I Ever," off-camera, she is a younger sibling. Like her father, Ramakrishnan's brother steers clear of the limelight and is believed to be an aspiring musician.

Although little is known about her big brother, Ramakrishnan humorously shared that she had "younger sibling energy" growing up and was up to the "usual antics" of a younger sibling.

"Obviously stole a lot of my mom's clothes. You know, try to show up, be the center of attention. Definitely made all of my brother's birthday parties about me," she said. However, the actress has outgrown her adolescent "awkward cringiness," as she shared:

"I'm old enough to be able to look back at how I was when I was 15 and realize how cringey it was at that time."

However, while Ramakrishnan has left her high school years behind her, she confessed in a tweet that her mom still calls her a "sap" for still watching her favorite animated film, "Howl's Moving Castle."