Subbalakshmi
Subbalskhmi, 61, has two sisters and a brother who live in Mylapore in Chennai. She also has a son, who is married with a child.
She lived her married life for only two years. "I was treated like an untouchable, a servant at my husband's house. I came to my mother's house to deliver my first child in 1971, and I haven't gone back," she said.
She struggled hard, working as a cook to educate her son. "He studied up to the 12th standard," she said. "I could not send him to college but I made him learn driving. I even got him a heavy vehicle license. He was very intelligent and learnt Vedam but I don't know what happened to him later; maybe because he was very intelligent, he started behaving like a mad man. He used to be a loving gentleman but from then on, he was not his usual self. He started getting very angry with me. I don't know why."
After an eye operation, she could not work any longer. So, she decided to come to Vishranthi. Her son has not visited her even once in the last year, but she takes consolation in the fact that her daughter-in-law and grandchildren have visited her twice.
"Today is my son's birthday. On this day I used to go to the temple in the mornings, and prepare a feast, till I came here..."
The day also happened to be the birthday of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalaithaa, so special food had come from her house for all the residents of Vishranthi.
"I will eat thinking I am celebrating my son's birthday," Subbalakshmi said, as she joined the other paattis.
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