Kerala - Thrissur   

City mourns Ammal's death

Staff Reporter

Her life became tragic when her son Raju turned mentally ill at the age of 17

A MOVING STORY: Lakshmi Ammal and her son Raju (a file picture).

THRISSUR: Lakshmi Ammal, who had become a legendary figure in Thrissur city through her endurance in tirelessly following her mentally ill son in his tramp life till his death, breathed her last on Tuesday night. The 80-year-old `Maami', as Ammal was fondly called by the residents of the city, was found lying unconscious on the veranda of a shop by the police. Even though they soon shifted her to the district hospital, her life could not be saved.

Hailing from a prominent Tamil Brahmin family settled in Thrissur, Ammal was leading a comfortable life in Calcutta with her husband in their early days of marriage. Her life became tragic when her son Raju turned mentally ill at the age of 17. Raju who was studying type-writing came back from the institute one day with clear symptoms of mental ailments. Under the spell of the disease he used to go out of the home and wander in the streets.

She became totally orphaned with the marriage of her daughter and death of her husband. As her son's ailments became severe, she came back to Thrissur with him to lead a tramp life along with him in the lanes and bylanes of Thrissur. The sight of Raju running around the city and in the Thekkinkadu Maidan blabbering some incoherent words and Ammal running after him to ensure he will not hurt himself were familiar to those coming here. However, few would have realised this mother-son tramp duo were well educated and hailed from a prominent family.

Ammal became orphaned again when her son breathed his last, at the age of 62, on her laps about a year back. The Kerala Brahmana Sabha activists then took her to an old age home. But she returned to the streets after someday to cherish the memories of her departed son. She was hoping that her daughter who was staying in one of the Ashrams in Alappuzha would come to see her one of these days. But she passed away before her daughter could reach here, leaving behind a moving story of mother-son bondage

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