Chidambaram is a member of the former semi-royal family and is related to the famous family of Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, the Raja of Chettinad. Apart from being a scion of an aristocratic family, he shown great brilliance as a leader and politician. Overall, he enjoys an excellent reputation of being an "honest, efficient and no-nonsense" politician, who addresses issues directly with the press, avoids circumlocutions or tricky answers to problematic issues, and provides direct answers. He is a very simple and easily approachable person who treats anyone with a lot of respect. He is extremely well spoken (in English and Tamil) in all his meetings with the press, and is very eloquent and impressive in his cabinet and public addresses. He has a deep understanding of both macro-economic and micro-economic principles with excellent quantiative skills, and manifests academic, administrative and managerial excellence at high levels of sophistication.