On a day when her companion of close to a quarter century was anointed her successor, Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits J Jayalalithaa's memorial on Marina Beach two months after her death.
A couple of hours after her companion of close to 25 years was anointed her successor at Fort St George, the seat of Tamil Nadu's government in Chennai, J Jayalalithaa's samadhi on Marina Beach was packed with people from all strata of Tamil society.
Two months had passed on Sunday, February 5, since Jayalalithaa died in a Chennai hospital.
Both Jayalalithaa and her mentor M G Ramachandran's tombs -- which are located close to each other on Marina Beach -- were covered with fresh flowers.
Two women selling flowers just inside the entrance to the memorial were heard pleading with policemen who asked them to leave the precincts, "We are poor flower sellers, what do you have against us?"
Outside the memorial you could buy samosas, sweetmeats, photographs, keychains of MGR and Jayalalitha.
Inside, a woman sold fruits on which she sprinkled chilli powder and salt.
A man shot photographs and printed them on a mobile printer he had set up inside the samadhi.
The national obsession with shooting selfies was very much in evidence at Jayalalithaa and MGR's memorials. A crowd stood at MGR's statue, clicking selfies with it.
MGR, the movie star and politician, passed away 30 years ago. These young Tamils shooting selfies didn't look they had grown up on his movies or been around when he ruled their state, and yet he was an an icon for them. Amazing!
One could spot the AIADMK party men easily in the crowds.
They arrived in groups, and you could identify them by the party coloured stripes on their dhotis and the photographs of their beloved Amma (not Chinamma -- as Tamil Nadu's next chief minister -- is called by party cadres) in their pockets.
Sasikala, one policeman on duty at Jayalalithaa's samadhi told me, had come the previous day, likely to pay obeisance to the woman whose legacy and mantle she planned to inherit on Sunday.
A few Muslim women paused near the samadhi, as an elderly lady wept silently. Tears flowed down her face.
"Why are you crying?" a woman in the group asked. "Allah does not spare anyone. You are born to die. Be happy that Amma lived to be 70 and was our leader for so long."
The elderly woman continued to weep silently, before she was led her away.
A policemen shooed away a crowd taking selfies. "Come on, keep moving," he yelled with a grin on his face, "there are others waiting to come here, MOVE!"
Among Amma's pilgrims was a man on a wheelchair, one leg in plaster, being pushed gently by a young boy. Near the samadhi, the likely father and son stopped for a picture with Jayalalithaa in the background.
"A few more days these crowds will last, then they will forget," one lady said to her companion.
"What are you going to get for remembering?" the companion asked with the familiar cynicism of Tamil Nadu's freebie seeking voter.
