The family of Sheela, a resident of Kanjikuzhi in Kottayam, had a celebrity visitor who arrived unannounced at her home a few days ago. The guest was filmmaker Aishwarya Rajinikanth, the daughter of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. Aishwarya had arrived at Sheela’s house to interview her mother-in-law Elsamma Joseph, a nurse who had retired from the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, for her upcoming documentary.
“Aishwarya visited our house on May 2. We were all pleasantly shocked when we saw her standing outside our door with an acquaintance, Dr Suresh of the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram,” said Sheela.
Elsamma had worked as a nurse at Medical College, Kottayam for 24 years and retired from service 18 years ago. During her service there, she worked with cancer specialist Dr C P Mathew who made immense contributions to the medical field. Aishwarya was helming a documentary on Mathew and wanted to learn more about him from Sheela who also maintained a personal friendship with him.
“Dr Mathew passed away some years ago. Aishwarya spoke to my mother-in-law about the doctor. She herself posed the questions. There were eight or nine others with Aishwarya to handle the camera and technical aspects,” said Sheela.
“Many people often visit my mother-in-law, including doctors at the Medical College. A few days ago, Dr Suresh informed us he would be coming, but did not give us any clue regarding any other visitor,” said Sheela, who is married to Elsamma's son Anu Thomas.
The neighbours were also in the dark about the visit “Initially, it was Dr Suresh who came into our house. He told us he had a surprise for us and announced that Aishwarya Rajinikanth was with him. We were shell-shocked. They probably did not inform us about the visit to avoid publicity and crowds,” said Sheela.
Sheela served freshly-prepared fruit juice and some snacks to the celebrity. “Aishwarya is down-to-earth. She relished those items. She also spoke warmly to all of us and posed for photos,” said Sheela. When Sheela told her friends about the celebrity’s visit, nobody believed her. “They were convinced only when I showed photos of Aishwarya's visit to them,” said Sheela.
