Jayalalithaa's two weeks in jail

"I have not seen Jayalalithaa when she was a Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu. Of whatever I have seen meeting her up during my prison rounds - she is fit and healthy and not shown any signs of a broken woman," DIG Prisons, PM Jaisimha said.

Ms Jayalalithaa, who was denied bail by the Karnataka High Court following her conviction and four-year-sentence in a disproportionate assets case, had on October 10 moved the Supreme Court for bail. Her bail plea will be heard in the apex court on October 17.

The 66-year-old AIADMK chief, who has been behind bars for the past two weeks, has challenged the High Court order refusing her bail.

According to jail authorities, they are most surprised by the ease with which they have been able to handle a high-profile and an "inaccessible" former Chief Minister. "The whole credit goes to Jayalalithaa, who has been so cooperative with the jail authorities.

It's surprising because Jayalalithaa has not met any AIADMK member or her MLAs and MPs, who had come to meet her in the jail," Jaisimha said.

"Yesterday around 5.30 pm, I met her in the cell and enquired if she is facing any problem. She said she has no problems and thanked us for being kind to her demands," he added.

She eats curd rice for lunch and dinner, along with either a banana or an apple and hot milk along with bread and a cup of coffee in the morning.

"She is very strict about her food," said Jaisimha.

Ms Jayalalithaa is also very fond of reading newspapers and devotes one-and-a-half hours for it. "She reads Tamil and English newspapers - Dina Thanti, The Hindu, Times of India and others between 6 am to 7.30 am," he said.

While Ms Jayalalithaa is prisoner number 7402, Ms Sasikala and her relatives, Elavarasi and Sudhakaran have been given numbers 7403, 7404 and 7405, respectively.