May 3, 1999
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JAYALALITHA Costly Comfort Whether it is deciding the fates of governments or just attending tea parties in Delhi, Jayalalitha conducts politics from the most lavish five-star setting. By Harinder Baweja
Madam herself is busy with things more important. The empress, after all, is playing king. Poes Garden has moved to the Chandragupta suite at Delhi's Maurya Sheraton and J. Jayalalitha is holding court -- with the Laloo Yadavs and the Amar Singhs. Besides calling on Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh. Paying hotel bills is the least of her worries. Her wish is the AIADMK's command. Pay in cash and let the party pay -- the orders are being dutifully followed.
The hotel suite and the rooms were first booked from April 12 to 20 and the entire amount paid in advance. After all, what's Rs 7.02 lakh when the mission involves breaking and making governments. And so what if her MPs too have to be accommodated, even though they have official residences in Delhi. Eighteen is an important number in Parliament. It made her the largest among the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government's coalition partners. They are all there in attendance, at her beck and call. Away from the traders and poachers. With extra beds thrown in, they are herded into their rooms, much like schoolboys in dormitories. The MPs are relieved that breakfast is complimentary. Lunch and dinner are out since they don't want to add to the hotel bill. It's picnic time then, when they get into Ambassador cars and head for Tamil Nadu Bhavan for inexpensive meals. For Amma, of course, it's a different story. Depending on her mood, the food is either ordered through room service -- mostly Chinese, for which she has a weakness -- or brought in from the homes of former ministers M. Thambi Durai and R. Janarthanan. That, too, is taken care of by friend Sasikala Natarajan, always around to see that Jayalalitha is comfortable. The hotel staff hasn't heard her voice. It's Sasikala who does the talking. Be it for room service or when the bell boy has to be summoned -- just in case the lift needs to be brought up to the 16th floor and kept ready for Amma to walk right in. Indeed, the last time she was in Delhi for Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's famous tea party, it was the faulty lift at Ashok Hotel that made her switch to the Maurya. When she's pleased, she smiles. Like she did when she entered the plush Chandragupta suite. The raw silk panels painted in saffron and orange passed muster. So did the carpets and the bronze Parvati statue. The letterheads too were exclusive to the "King'' -- a saffron and orange Parvati emblazoned across the top. The staff was unobtrusive, just as she had demanded. One section of the 16th floor was converted into a "no entry zone", an area accessible only to the house-keeping staff. Valets were politely turned away. As was the linen and other facilities offered by the hotel's business centre. Before she arrived on April 12, her personal staff had put things in place. Fax machines had been flown in from Chennai along with the bedsheets and towels. Pictures of gods and goddesses had been hung on the walls and cell phones recharged. Twelve suitcases full of Madam's belongings had been unpacked and arranged long before their leader arrived. Placed just as she liked them -- the saris with matching purses and shoes. Not quite the way her bed-and-breakfast brigade had to live. Out of little bags containing fresh changes. Familiar with the nays, they could only demur -- no laundry and no phone calls. A rule she herself followed, for reasons quite different. Hotel phones she doesn't quite consider safe and clothes, well, why else the 12 suitcases. Or why her own linen? Even the hotel staff is wondering. For, if Chandragupta's sheets were good enough for Hillary Clinton and Sheikh Hasina why not for the lady from Chennai? Why indeed? |
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The hotel staff have begun to recognise the man. For
the last couple of days he's there in the morning with a bag full of money. The
transaction is quick -- Rs 42,000 for "Madam's" suite and Rs 7,200 each for the
five rooms reserved for the "minions". The Rs 78,000 bill paid, he takes the
receipts and leaves. But not before informing Madam's staff upstairs. 
