Muted celebrations, she said, schemes galore it was instead, thanks to the fast approaching elections and the general euphoria Brand Amma generates.
A 68kg cake with the party symbol of two leaves was cut and laddoos distributed to all partymen at the party headquarters in Royapettah. A booklet of all the party’s initiatives was also released.
Jayalalithaa flagged off the scheme to provide free bus travel to the elderly.
Food was served to all staff employed in the party headquarters and a medical camp in Pudhukottai was inaugurated by O Panneerselvam.
The camp will be held between February 24 and 28 for 5 days. General checkups, blood donation and blood pressure checkups will be conducted along with ECG and ECHO scans. In Coimbatore and Trichy, newborns were gifted gold rings and chains.
All this besides the 68 initiatives by the Greater Chennai corporation for her birthday.
This was the normal stuff. But here are some of her partymen, who with their outrageous gestures, will never cease to amuse.
Yesterday, a tattoo rally in Velachery set the tone for the impending madness. Over 1,000 people tattooed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's picture and name on their forearms to mark the 68th birth anniversary of the AIADMK supremo.
Organising MLA Ashok, who also sports her tattoo, said that the idea came up after people wanted to do a similar gesture to thank Jayalalithaa. Though about 600 people were expected to participate, a little over 1,000 turned up at the event, which was attended by senior ministers, including O Panneerselvam.
Next was Amma fashion – women in flowing sarees with a picture of Amma waving printed on their pallus and their borders painted in party colours were spotted near the party headquarters.
We’ve seen palabhishekams and a variety of other prayers offered on her birthday, but this one takes the cake for its outlandishness. Madurai MLA Karrupaiah prayed for the Chief Minister’s long life by floating in a pool of water for exactly 48 minutes while holding the part flag between his teeth. His prayer? “Amma is everything, she cannot die.”
This isn’t Karrupaiah’s first time. When Jayalalithaa was serving jail time in the disproportionate assets case, Karuppaiah floated in a well in his constituency for close to half-a-day.
A film poster has also been doing the rounds. "Irratai Ellai" - two leaves, which is the party symbol had its poster released in a Tamil paper this morning to mark her birthday. No release date is out yet, but the number of fans will definitely be no match to Rajnikanth's.
If you can’t don an Amma ensemble, float on water or get a tattoo, it’s not too late. You can call her and wish her at least, thanks to the IT wing of the AIADMK.
Mobile and landline telephones can be used to greet her on the occasion. The numbers 77670-20002 and 044-331-24 234 can be called to record and send their wishes to her. The service will be open till midnight February 24.
The IT wing is reportedly trying to register 6,000 greetings per minute on the network. After recording the messages, the wishes will be sent to Amma.
You'd think the city is the only place painted red, white and black today. Jaishankar, a man who calls himself a bleeding heart believer of Amma, paints his whole body in party colours and shows up outside the AIADMK quarters for the past 40 years.
Why? "Simple, I love Amma and I watch all her movies all the time," he enthuses.
Jaishankar confesses he's never met her in person, but he and his wife are prompt to all the party meetings. That's some dedication.
Happy Birthday, Amma. And thank you for the entertainment, party cadres. If you love Amma, don't just vote for her. Float for her.