(Photo courtesy: The Hindu)

Lakshmi Ammaal, who was fondly called Maami by Thrissurians, was a known figure in Thrissur city. You would see her walk behind her mentally ill son while he wandered around the city occasionally shouting. Laskhmi Ammal hails from a Tamil Brahmin family settled in Thrissur. After marriage she moved to Calcutta and was leading a happy life. Then Raju, her son, fell mentally sick at the age of 17. Then after her husband’s death and her daughter’s marriage, she moved back to Thrissur with her son.

But they did not have a house in Thrissur and thus began their tramp life in the bylanes of Thrissur city. The people of Thrissur became familiar with Raju and his mother. Raju wandered around shouting and blabbering something but he never hurt anyone. His mother followed him all around, to make sure that he would not hurt himself. It was a painful sight to see the old lady trying to follow up the pace of her son without any complaints. It was a wonderful example of the love of a mother. Raju passed away in 2004 at the age of 62. And After about an year, Laskhmy Ammal followed her son. She 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. She was 80.

On this Mother’s Day, Lakshmi Ammal stands for the selfless love of a mother.

Other Mother’s Day posts:

The Old Woman in Chatta and Mundu

And here is a pencil sketch that I did last year.

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