It was a quiet morning in Chennai. An unusual calm presided over most parts of the city, as shops stood shut and roads empty. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha had died late the previous night, and on Tuesday, the state was in mourning.
But in Rajaji Hall in Triplicane, crowds gathered to bid farewell to Jayalalitha, or Amma, as she was known affectionately. A little before noon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to pay his respects to the deceased chief minister.
In the evening, Jayalalithaa’s body was taken to the Marina Beach in Chennai to be buried next to the memorial of her mentor MG Ramachandran. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and other leaders paid their last respects before the sandalwood casket with “Puratchithalaivi Selvi J Jayalalithaa” engraved on it, was lowered into the ground.
While there were outpourings of grief by supporters at the funeral, social media users too bid an emotional farewell.
Digging up the past
While pictures of the funeral are flooding the internet, so are old photos of Jayalalithaa – right from her childhood days to her appearances in films.
As a child, Jayalalithaa was supposed to be remarkably bright at her studies.
“The days I spent in school were the happiest and most normal days of my life,”she had said on Simi Garewal’s talk show Rendevouz, 19 years ago.
She had wanted to become a lawyer, but her mother pursuaded her to take up a career in acting and provide for the family. She even had to reject a scholarship she had won for higher education.
Before her life as a politician, Jayalalithaa was an actress, having entered the film industry at the age of 15. She then went on to act in over 140 films, of which 28 were with MG Ramachandran. She also went on to win several Filmfare awards and state awards for her lead roles in many movies.
Social media users dug out pictures of her appearances in cinema and have been sharing them widely. Several older posts with her pictures have also resurfaced.
Upon the pursuasion of MG Ramachandran, who later went on to become Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa made her entry into politics. It was not an easy journey for her, and she said so herself.
I’ve had to face so many brickbats, so much vilification and slander. It hasn’t been easy. If I had been a lawyer, no one would have said such things about me. But when it comes to a politician, the questions are so downright demeaning, insulting, humiliating. People who know nothing about you ask the most vile questions. And you have to take it. It is very difficult.
— - J Jayalalithaa to Simi Garewal on Rendevouz
Respect and adulation
Despite her bitter rivalry with the DMK, it is testament to her stature as a politician that the DMK party persons put up a hoarding saluting the six-time chief minister.
As words of respect pouring in from all quarters, there is hope that the chief minister may indeed rest in peace.
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