Flowers for MotherFOR 40 days and counting, the 78m citizens of Tamil Nadu have neither seen nor heard their chief minister, Jayaram Jayalalithaa. In her absence admirers have organised marches and mass prayers, pleading to higher powers for her speedy recovery from an undisclosed illness. Last week a different Tamil lady in her 60s was killed when a procession in Ms Jayalalithaa’s honour turned into a stampede.
The epicentre for the well-wishers’ demonstrations is the Apollo hospital in the state capital of Chennai, formerly known as Madras. Ms Jayalalithaa has been there since September 22nd, her condition a closely guarded secret. Phalanxes of police stop and search everyone entering the building, including ambulances. Clusters of anxious citizens, many of them party workers, sit on the street outside, taking turns singing hymns, laying offerings of fruits and flowers, chatting and sometimes weeping openly. Men from her party, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), wear white shirts with a filmy pocket sewn over the heart. Tucked in each, a photograph of the chief minister smiles through the fabric. The men express faith that...Continue reading
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