A year after the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, her palatial residence, Veda Nilayam, at Poes Garden is left with only one occupant — her cook of four decades, Rajam.
Once the seat of power, bustling with activity and a constant throng of visiting Ministers, MPs, MLAs and party workers, the sprawling bungalow is now eerily silent. And as steps are being taken to make Veda Nilayam a public memorial, staff have been leaving.
The last of them — a handful of girls who worked in the bungalow — are set to return soon to their homes in Pudukottai.
Nothing much is known about Rajam — not her full name nor her age. She is thought to be a septuagenarian but could be older.
All that is known is that she hails from Madurai and that she joined as a domestic help decades ago and continued to live with Jayalalithaa in Veda Nilayam after the latter became Chief Minister in 1991. Till the 2011 elections, Rajam used to accompany the party supremo on tours and oversee her food arrangements.
Rajam doesn’t talk much. She doesn’t like to be photographed. Efforts to get her to speak about the late Chief Minister’s food choices meet with little success.
Other staff members at Veda Nilyam recall that she hardly had any visitors, and seldom went home on visits and say she always remained aloof.
“It’s only during the routine security checks that we got to see her walking in the backyard or watering plants. Whenever Jayalalithaa left for long election tours, she would be particular to take leave of Rajam just before entering her vehicle. All we know is that she was associated with the former Chief Minister for many years…,” a senior police official told The Hindu on Sunday.
In a recent interview to The Hindu, R.K. Nagar MLA T.T.V. Dhinakaran said Jayalalithaa, V.K. Sasikala and others in the family held Rajam in high esteem.
Earlier this week,when Chennai Collector V. Anbuselvan and other officials visited ‘Veda Nilayam’ as part of the ongoing process to take possession, Rajam told them that she had no place to live and wanted a home to spend the rest of her life as she had no one to turn to.
For now, the elderly woman remains in the palatial house that is guarded by armed men round the clock.