Sasikala kin Ilavarasi floors DIG with her Kannada skills

A surprise awaited IPS officer H S Revanna, the newly appointed DIG prisons, when he visited Parappana Agrahara Central Jail recently.

An unfamiliar voice said, "Namaskara, sir. Chennagidira?" (Greetings, sir. How are you doing?)

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.

"I am not facing any trouble," Ilavarasi said in Kannada when Revanna asked if she had any grievances.

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.

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.

However, Sasikala and V N Sudhakaran (disowned foster son of Jayalalithaa) have shown no interest in learning Kannada.