Behind closed doors: The last glimpse

At 2.30 am, I got a call from a relative who asked me to come to Veda Nilayam immediately if I wanted to see our late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for the last time. Although I had seen the news on TV channels, I was not expecting to see Jaya lying in a coffin at her Poes Garden residence; I wasn’t sure if I could handle it.

However, after receiving the call I knew I had to go. When I reached Veda Nilayam in exactly 15 minutes, Jaya’s body hadn’t arrived yet, but a huge crowd had gathered outside and police personnel were working hard to keep them in check. I was ushered in and made to wait on the porch, along with a few others who had been regulars at the late CM’s residence.

By 3.15 am, the body arrived in a government ambulance and was taken indoors immediately. When some of us tried to go in, we were stopped by security personnel, who told us that her final rites were being performed and that we would be allowed to see her after it was over.

For the next half an hour or so, I can’t recall how much time went by, we waited nervously on the porch, overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation, even as the crowd outside began to swell.

Around 4 am, the front door opened, and we were asked to step inside. “Please do not spend more than a few seconds, as we do not have enough time,” a police official said.

I walked inside and there she lay, dressed in a brand-new saree and decked with jewellery. I think it was a dark green sari, but I could be wrong as I had already broken down by then.

I remember seeing the sparkle of her jewels. Another striking aspect was that her skin was still glowing and her face looked as fresh as ever. I spent just a few fleeting moments gazing at Jaya, who lay still in the coffin, before I was asked to leave. Looking back, the most striking memory, and the one thing that I vividly remember was the eerie silence. Not a word was spoken inside the house, nobody wept or uttered a single word. Sasikala was standing next to the coffin while Jaya’s nephew Deepak was also present.

There were a few others, but I do not remember any other faces now.

After we came out, the doors closed again, and our late CM was prepared for her final journey out of Poes Garden.