Jayamma died on February 19 at about 4:30 in the afternoon, at Karuya Mane. She was about 70 years old.

Jayamma came to stay with us at Karunya Mane last February, after living for years on the street. She once told us that she had run away from home as a teenager, and then lived with her husband on the street. He died many years ago. She has one sister and a couple of children, none of whom made any contact with Jayamma.

We met Jayamma in 2005 on the streets of Mysore. She begged for a living, was a fiesty and fiercely independent woman, and in 2008 it took us a good week to convince her to get off the street. Towards the end, she developed a heart condition and lost the ability to walk. She remained alert and made frequent contact with her eyes and hand gestures.

One of Jayamma's grandsons stays with us at Karunya Mane. Manikanta often helped take care of his grannie and helped bathe and feed her.

Jayamma in 2007 with her walking stick