Widow's salve on a red scar

Former Kerala CM Nayanar's widow is determined not to let the past haunt her. Ramesh Babu reports.

The wounds are healing. When former Kerala chief minister EK Nayanar died, his widow Sarada Teacher found herself all alone while immersing his ashes.

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The party did not attend rituals it did not believe in. A year on, Sarada is determined not to let the past haunt her.

The spirited lady, a party card-holder for 70 years, will be the first to cast her vote at the Kalliassery government school.

The house "Sarada's", once a hive of political activity in the politically-volatile north, wears a forlorn look. Sarada, who stays in Ernakulam, is back home to for the poll.

"Widows usually avoid functions at least for a year. But if I keep away this time, my comrades will never forgive me," she says.

This is the first assembly poll without the charismatic Nayanar. Occasional visitors perk her up.

She says that had "he been alive, the confusion over CM's candidate would have been solved in a jiffy".