One of the first talks at the HLF was by author Vaasanthi, who recently wrote an autobiography about late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Not many know that the book Amma was actually her second attempt at an autobiography for Jayalalithaa — the first one was stopped by being published by the late CM herself. “Just before the release, a magazine wanted to do a curtain raiser and they published excerpts from the book, and somebody brought that to her notice. Without reading the book, she took me to court!” Vaasanthi said, adding that a judge stayed the release of the book.
“The objections raised at the time were all laughable — I’d written that her name was originally Komalavalli and they said “No, that’s a lie!” Then they said it was an invasion of her privacy,” Vaasanthi said with a laugh.
Her research led her to find that Jayalalithaa was a brilliant, fun loving student growing up. “But later on there was an anger in her. One of her close friends said she had cut off all her contacts. Her whole life has been a fight against the system,” Vaasanthi said, elaborating on her film, personal and political struggles.
However, Vaasanthi added, “She’s one of the rare leaders who was loved and feared. Her story is not just of a woman being successful in a male dominated political world, but also of one who transformed herself to stay on and become a winner.”
