Adieu JJ, may you have another life of peace and happiness

I was not a MGR fan, though even as a school girl made sure, I watched the last of the movies he acted ‘Madurayai meetta sundara pandian’. So, none of MGR, JJ movies I can recollect, and also didn’t think of JJ as much of an actress. 

The year she became the propaganda secretary of the party, I saw her in person, as she was travelling to Vellore, and she was really stunning to look at. The vibrancy, the beauty of her image in that white saree with the red and black in the border, an open vehicle, stopping by and waving at us as we stood on the highway as she passed.

After that most of us in the state saw to our utter dismay the treatment she got at MGR’s funeral and the ugly scenes in the State Assembly. Even today if you see those photos, and the videos you would know how dirty all those men around there were, conspiring to throw a lady who was personally picked up and mentored by MGR.

For all the radicalism of the Dravidian parties, they remained disgustingly misogynistic. Actually even those in other parties weren’t any better. Many in the media too echoed all those misogynistic statements that the politicians let out, whether true or false. One, that I refused to believe is that the reason for MGR, MK fallout was who JJ belonged to…no shame those men had spreading this story. DMK split over who among them could claim access to a lady they desired?

But, she shattered the glass ceiling, it was poetic justice that she won the state not only winning votes, but winning people’s hearts. More popular than even her mentor by the time she made a second and a third come back.

In her first term, she won the hearts of the Secretariat staff, many IAS officers who worked with her as a bright administrator, quick to absorb issues. She did resort to a great drama that put her on the public mind as a crusader going on fast for the Cauvery water issue.

The term ended on a disappointing note, JJ became a butt of all jokes with that pompous spectacle of a wedding of her adopted son. That she would fall so low, in the company of her trusted aide Sasikala. Anyway, undaunted she came back to fight the next election with vigor and sent MK packing up. Initially the news was all good, that she had cracked down on corruption, things were getting better.

It was some months before the elections that I got a chance to meet her in person. That was a period when I also donned an activist role and working with a friend on religious conversions, and we took a report on demography that showed alarming projections to her. A routing letter was sent to all political parties on the report, but it was only JJ who responded by writing back, saying she wanted to meet. 

My friend who was the leader of our group called me up and said you come along. I didn’t know what to expect of the meeting, but that is a meeting I would not refuse for anything.

We reached Poes Garden just in time, heralded into the chamber adjoining a room where we were supposed to meet her. We were ushered in at the appointed hour, and no one was around as she walked into the room. It was a bare room, made up of grey granite walls with just seating arrangement.

She was very pleasant, demolishing the tyrant image that was projected. She listened to us carefully, chatted with us as if she was talking to some long last family members. She asked us how serious the report was, glanced through and promised to read and do something. Family, values and many things she talked on that day – said she was worried about the attitude of children abandoning their parents. Asked if two of us ladies had any plans for politics. We said no, we are not cut out for politics. She shook hands, that was so soft a touch I cannot forget. The conversation had lasted almost two hours. I left Poes Garden feeling so bad for her. What horrible fate for someone so smart.

When I narrated this story to one of my relatives whose mother and JJ’s mother were cousins, she quipped, 'JJ talking about taking care of parents, sigh, we know how she treated her mother".

I had read about how JJ was bitter about her mother, bitter about being forced into movies when she wanted to study. I can imagine the harassment she would have faced as an actress, TN is no state for brilliant and beautiful women, at least not kollywood, not politics. May you have another life of peace and happiness JJ. That beautiful, beaming face we saw in ‘Venneer Aadai’ let that be your trademark and not ‘Aayirathil Oruvan’.