Bangalore, September 28 – Saturday’s verdict convicting AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa in an 18-year-old disproportionate assets case epitomised a strange irony for the three-term chief minister.
The 66-year-old former Tinseltown star was born and raised in Karnataka, and spent much of her formative years in Bangalore, the city that will now be synonymous with her fall from grace. Jayalalithaa was born on February 24, 1948 in the temple town of Melkote in Mandya district.
She was just two when her father passed away, a tragedy that drove her mother to move to Bangalore with her children. Her mother Sandhya subsequently took up acting, and went on to become a recognised member of the Tamil film fraternity.
Bangalore’s child In Bangalore, Jayalalithaa attended the famous Bishop Cotton School, where she was known as a studious student. By the time she turned 13, her mother had convinced her to give acting a shot, and a star was born. The decision to become an actor led Jaya to shift base to Chennai, the hub of the Tamil film industry where she would soon become a force to be reckoned with.
She has since acted in over 150 South Indian movies opposite top stars in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies. She even acted in a few Hindi movies. A polyglot fluent in all the southern languages, the former chief minister also boasts of a strong grasp on Hindi and English.
However, the feisty politician, who enjoys demigod status in Tamil Nadu, has shared a turbulent relationship with her former home state since then. After she emerged as a prominent politician in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa has maintained a studied silence on her antecedents, particularly her Kannada roots.
Not only has Jayalalithaa fallen out of touch with her siblings and cousins in Karnataka, for several decades, she waged a fiery war against Karnataka over Tamil Nadu’s right to a share of Cauvery river’s water. The latter reason is why she has fallen out of favour with several Kannadigas.
Jayalalithaa had a major fallout with her younger sister Sailaja two decades ago. The situation is so bad that the latter now misses no opportunity to criticise her elder sister. After Jayalalithaa’s conviction was announced, Sailaja told the media in Bangalore that she “deserved the punishment”.
Over the years, the former Tamil Nadu chief minister’s equation with Karnataka has been restricted largely to frequent visits to Mysore, where she gives financial aid to girl students. Reliable sources said she also has a lot of friends in the city, with whom she keeps in regular touch.
Her family has a few close family friends, mainly from the priestly class, in Melkote, but they refused to comment on Saturday’s verdict.
-INDIA TODAY
