<p class="title">A surprise awaited IPS officer H S Revanna, the newly appointed DIG prisons, when he visited Parappana Agrahara Central Jail recently.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An unfamiliar voice said, "Namaskara, sir. Chennagidira?" (Greetings, sir. How are you doing?)</p>.<p class="bodytext">It turned out to be Ilavarasi, sister-in-law of V K Sasikala, ousted AIADMK general secretary. Convicted in a disproportionate assets case, Ilavarasi and Sasikala are serving jail terms in Bengaluru.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am not facing any trouble," Ilavarasi said in Kannada when Revanna asked if she had any grievances.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For six months, she has been spending time on her Kannada lessons. "She has successfully cleared Class 1 and 2 Kannada exams," an official told DH.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ilavarasi can strike a decent conversation in the language. "She is also beginning to read it," the official said. All this was possible thanks to a makeshift school inside the prison. A woman teaches Kannada to inmates who show interest. Ilavarasi's Kannada classmates include two Nigerians, two Maharashtrians and six female convicts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, Sasikala and V N Sudhakaran (disowned foster son of Jayalalithaa) have shown no interest in learning Kannada.</p>
<p class="title">A surprise awaited IPS officer H S Revanna, the newly appointed DIG prisons, when he visited Parappana Agrahara Central Jail recently.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An unfamiliar voice said, "Namaskara, sir. Chennagidira?" (Greetings, sir. How are you doing?)</p>.<p class="bodytext">It turned out to be Ilavarasi, sister-in-law of V K Sasikala, ousted AIADMK general secretary. Convicted in a disproportionate assets case, Ilavarasi and Sasikala are serving jail terms in Bengaluru.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am not facing any trouble," Ilavarasi said in Kannada when Revanna asked if she had any grievances.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For six months, she has been spending time on her Kannada lessons. "She has successfully cleared Class 1 and 2 Kannada exams," an official told DH.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ilavarasi can strike a decent conversation in the language. "She is also beginning to read it," the official said. All this was possible thanks to a makeshift school inside the prison. A woman teaches Kannada to inmates who show interest. Ilavarasi's Kannada classmates include two Nigerians, two Maharashtrians and six female convicts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, Sasikala and V N Sudhakaran (disowned foster son of Jayalalithaa) have shown no interest in learning Kannada.</p>