It's hard not to shed a tear or two when a personality of this magnitude passes. You may not see eye to eye on everything, but there is respect that goes far beyond the differences. I had hated Jayalalitha's merriment when her comrades, irrespective of gender and age falling at her feet. I had criticized her arrogance on certain decisions, specially her attempt to convert what is South Asia's biggest library into a hospital just because it was M.K Stalin's Brain Child. It was annoying whenever I saw kilometers of posters of her all along the while going to secretariat or party office. But beyond all that when I had tears rolling down my cheeks as I watch one news channel after another, it was pretty clear. She was a colossus who defied every odd that was thrown against her and strolled head high as the iron willed lady in an era of politics that was defined by male chauvinism. Her loss will be felt even more in the near future when that chauvinist disease comes creeping back and you find nobody in the vicinity who could fight it the way she did. On top of it, she was a Kannadiga Brahmin women who took the reigns of a Pro-Dravidian party not because of influence but because every one their supporters wanted her to do so. Oh the inside battles that she won!It wasn't that she rose to the highest post in the state by virtue of her own effort. She did have the support of the great Mr. MGR, nurtured by him and took over the party that he left behind. But her political legacy lies in the way she fought the countless obstacles that came her way. From being thrown off MGR's funeral convoy to be taken in a similar convoy and laid next to his mentor, she conquered everything. It's hard to imagine anyone, gender irrelevant, who could have survived and had the will to continue after what she went through. The spat with V.N. Janaki, the saree grabbing incident in the secretariat in '89, the 48 cases lodged after the error-ridden reign of '91-'95, The Tansi Case & the recent property cases would take anyone's breath away, literally. She broke all that didn't she! Put aside the political gimmicks that are inevitable part of the modern day political landscape, some of the schemes of her's deserve special mention. The Cradle scheme in '91 that arrested the rampant female foeticide, Rain water harvesting in '01, Amma Unavagam in 2011, Including the Supreme Court's decision to release Cauvery water in Governement Gazette stands out as her best work.
But my admiration for Ammu goes beyond her political achievements. It's J. Jayalalitha, the person that fascinated me. While serving the people has always been one of her ambitions, inside her was a child that longed for something else. A brilliant student, a trained singer and an excellent dancer, she wanted to pursue a career in all forms of arts. All she wanted was to be with her mom when she was gowing up and yet Sandhya was so busy making a living for a young Jaya that she never had the time for her daughter. She started acting against her wishes and thrust into politics against her will. I guess more than anything it's her struggles that made her what she is. if not for them she would have quit being a politician long time back. With every struggle came the determination to prove herself and get on top of that situation and life had a way of throwing one situation after another at her. Eventually she made her life as one of defying struggles and died a fighter. But is this what she really wanted? Not Really! All she craved for was a family but never had a chance for one. It's the one thought that kept coming to me. If she had a family, they could have fought harder for her because although she was ill for 75 days the timing just does not seem right. There was a sense of incompleteness that gripped my heart when I saw the last ride.
We all know the strong willed personality that she is but few know that gentle beating heart inside her. You could see that when she visited her best friend Cho Ramasamy who passed away as I was writing this. The video that showed her saying "It's gonna be alright" to him may be the most simplest thing but it showed a side we haven't seen in a while. We saw her in her most relaxed during M.S Vishwanathan's tribute. There was a moment when somebody joked and she had that candid, beautiful smile on her face that I will remember forever. She has a library of 10000 books in her house and used to kick back with a book every night after a hard day's work. There are stories of how she used to test drive cars in her Kodanad estate. She was a bad patient, just like us you know. She had an enormous liking for sweets and cashews and refused to not eat them even after being diagnosed with Diabetes. You could see the child, stubborn, adamant and stupid. If only there was a family to whack the child, we could have seen more of her. But the thng that I admire the most apart from her beauty is her command over the English languauge which just like her beauty was flawless and effortless. Bishop Cotton and Church Park! The old Matriculation Standard! As a child, her speeches in English were a true inspiration for me to love the language the way I do now. Thanks Ammu for that!
it's so heartening to see that the best of tributes for her came from none other than their arch rivals DMK. Years of battle back and forth and some bitter moments and yet, the respect in the end. Here is what one of them wrote, a truly fitting tribute this.
"Even though you stood against us, we were proud that we were facing a lioness.
We always wanted you to not rule but never wished for you to not live!"
R.I.P Ammu!
