Jayalalithaa The Goddess

As expected ‘Puratchi talaivi’ J Jayalalithaa  has been released on bail and as expected AIADMK supporters are dancing. The fact that The Supreme Court has been quite stern in its remarks about their leader and that it has asked the High court to dispose the case in three months has not marred the celebrations. People lined the road from the jail to the Airport in Bengaluru to see their leader free once again. I heard that the roads in Chennai were lined by ladies holding ‘Aarathis’. My sister who told this said that she would not have believed it had she not witnessed the sight herself and ended by saying ‘stupid people and a shameless creature’.

I wondered what makes these people (Not just Jayalalitha’s supporters. Laalu yadav’s people do the same in Bihar and Yedyurappa’s men do it in Bengaluru) overlook the misdeeds of their leader and stick to them in spite of the overwhelming evidence against them.

We have had a centuries old tradition of being ruled by Kings and queens. A king is expected to be wealthy and exhibit his wealth. He is expected to live in a palace. Wearing a crown studded with diamonds and a dress embroidered with gold threads is normal for him. Nobody asks the king where and how he got his money. He may indulge in all sorts of excesses but he is still just next to god. “Raja pratyaksha devata”. We carry that sentiment in our genes and now we have ‘devathas’ in the form of our ‘Netas’.  Tamilnadu, with its temples of MGR and Jayalalitha, is the best place to witness this sentiment.

Jayalalithaa is not just the queen but a goddess. It is nothing for a goddess to have 10000 sarees and 30 kilos of gold. Nobody grudges that.  In fact, we rejoice over that fact and wish to see her in all her bejewelled glory.  Now, on top of that this goddess is a very generous goddess. Her ‘prasadam’ in the form of a plate of Idli sambhar costs just one rupee and a ‘thali’ of ‘Mahaprasad’ is just three rupees or five. She showers mixer grinders, TV sets, bicycles, clothes and what not ‘chappar phadke’. She is actually everything that we expect a goddess to be. If some ignorant people call her corrupt and put our goddess in a jail it enrages us but we swallow it. This is ‘Kaliyuga’. People tend to do such things. But when our goddess is back amongst us, nobody can prevent us receiving her with ‘aarathis’.