Chennai: In a rare and candid account of his personal experience with J Jayalalithaa, actor Rajinikanth remembered how the late chief minister graciously attended his daughter Aishwarya Dhanush's wedding despite his famous statement, back in 1996, politically denouncing her as someone who could lead Tamil Nadu down a path even God cannot redeem.
His words proved to be one of the key factors to the late chief minister's drubbing at the polls, he said. Still, he says, she chose to attend the wedding of his daughter.
"We had decided to hold the wedding at my Poes Garden residence. I had extended an invite, though I assumed she would not come [referring to his statement denouncing her]. She considered.
She said, "On the same day, I have to attend the wedding of a party functionary. But, I shall be there for this wedding. Like she said, she came. A person with such a golden heart is not with us now," a shaken Rajinikanth spoke at a condolence meet organised by the film industry.
Rarely allowing himself to speak along political lines, or about political leaders, Rajinikanth recalled his statement two decades back to drive home the point that criticism, strangely, only made Jayalalithaa stronger.
He drew a parallel between her attitude towards life and politics to that of a diamond. The carbon material, he said, shines and shines more with pressure. Similarly, Jayalalithaa cut her own path in a male-dominated world. "Now, she is a kohinoor diamond, sleeping by the side of Puratchi Thalaivar [revolutionary leader, referring to MG Ramachandran]," he said.
Speaking about MGR, Rajinikanth said Jayalalithaa belongs to the rare breed of politicians who better their own mentors.
"She did better than MGR in terms of politics and the achievements in that field," he said.
Speaking of the immense pain and suffering that have been a part of Jayalalithaa's life, Rajinikanth said her life had not been a bed of roses.
"She lost her father at two. At 22, she lost her mother too. Boundless beauty and brains, reputation... She had no long-standing relatives. She lived alone. But, still, after so much hardships to take over the party, she has taken hte party to a different league altogether. She came to be known as 'Amma'," he said.
He said her spirit to fight never abated till her end: "Even this year, she was determined to campaign aggressively to get her party to win, despite her ill health."
Jayalalithaa's life, he said, holds many lessons for us. "Her courage, her attitude to swim against the tide, and that aspect to convert challenges into achievements... all these are big lessons for us," he said, as his voice choked up.
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