In an election filled with vitriol, charges and counter-charges, actor-turned-Congress politician Jayasudha stood out with her poise and tranquillity. She courted the middle-class voter with a campaign that at times appeared too tame. But when she
defeated sitting the Telugu Desam MLA Talasani Srinivas Yadav, even hard-nosed critics agreed that her low-pitched campaign helped.
Politics, says the newly elected Secunderabad MLA, is a path she will accept with as much grace as she embraced acting. “I feel this divine presence guiding me all the time.”
Born into a family of Brahmo
Samajis, Jayasudha reveals says her folks were not very religious. But as a kid, Jayasudha was fond of Hanuman “as most children are” Venkateswara was a favourite. But there has always been this unspoken connection with Jesus.
Jayasudha used to get frequent eosnophilia attacks as a teenager. At age 15, she prayed at the Vellankanni church to be rid of the ailment. She was soon cured after that.
Again, on May 4, 1985, when Jayasudha was on her honeymoon with husband Nitin Kapoor, she was jet skiing in Pattaya when she fell into the waters. “I didn’t know how to swim. I involuntarily yelled out
‘Jesus’ though I was not a devotee at that time, and I had a vision of the
Almighty. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged on to the water scooter by my husband.” Jayasudha embraced Christianity 16 years later in Chennai, in 2001.
The MLA explains that while she does not really sit down to pray on a daily basis, she has constant conversations with God. “I can leave everything for Him, even my family. They know that too,” she says laughing.
Like everyone else, Jayasudha goes through moments of angst when things go wrong. “I wonder if God doesn’t like me and then I pray harder for Him to show me the light. There are times when my prayers have been answered within a few days and there are times when I have to wait for years. Then, He shows me a path which I realise is the best for me.”
Asked what she prays for, Jayasudha reveals that she prays for her children and family and that God stays by her side all the time.
She does not agree that God chooses our careers for us. “We do that. Do you think God would have wanted me to perform song and dance sequences in films? God can only give us wisdom and help us when we are at a crossroad in our lives.”
— madhavi@epmltd.com