‘Sowcar’ Janaki: A life that was never bound by the script, till the end

There was always something unmistakably independent about Sowcar Janaki.Even at 90, she did not seem particularly interested in the revelry that usually surrounds a milestone birthday. In the conversation I had with her in 2021, at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic ahead of her 90th birthday, she was more concerned about the health of everyone around her than about celebrating herself. “Everyone’s health is more important than my birthday celebrations,” she told me.That was Janaki — direct, spirited and unconventional.In September that year, after returning to Chennai from a solo trip to Coonoor, she surprised her family by announcing that she had come back from a shooting stint. It was entirely in keeping with the woman they knew. Independent and unwilling to allow age to dictate her. For an