THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Vilappilsala natives, Ambalathumvila J Saraswathi Bhayi – who had donated her property worth crores to build a government hospital in their hometown – is an icon of benevolence. She died aged 96 after suffering from age-related ailments on Tuesday evening. She is survived by eight children, and was living with one of her younger sons, Bhadra Kumar, a retired Sub Inspector of Police.
The life of Saraswathi Bhayi is more like a fairy tale to her neighbours and relatives. It was in 1957 that she donated an acre to build a hospital, from the total 1.25 acres that she received as ancestral property from her parents. According to her relatives, she donated the other 25 cents to poor people to build houses.
Vilappilsala Radhakrishnan, one of her relatives and the Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat welfare standing committee chairman, Saraswathi was an epitome of kindness and love to those around her.
“She was a symbol of benevolence for our generation. Recently, we celebrated her birthday at the hospital that was built on her property and she was happy about our gesture. She was a great personality as it was very rare to find a woman who took the courage to donate her ancestral property for free, that too in the 1950s. She was called Saraswathi Muthassi by all of us. She had no complaint about anyone not recognizing her benevolent acts,” he said.
As per the information shared by her relatives, when the hospital started to function in 1961, the then chief minister, Pattom Thanupilla felicitated Saraswathi and her husband, Krishna Pillai, by visiting their house.
Thanupilla also promised to offer a government job to one of the family members of Saraswathi as an act of gratitude from the state government for their donation. With the passage of time, the family and its wealth declined. After several years, beset with financial instability, Saraswathi had approached the government to realise the promise of a government job to one of her grandchildren. But all her efforts went in vain.
“She was an inspiring woman in our society but the government ignored her. Though she had no complaints she was sad about how her rights were denied by the government. A government job was even assured by V S Sivakumar when he was the health minister, but failed to do as promised,” he said.
Radhakrishnan has envisaged a trust titled ‘Pratheeksha Trust’ in Puliyarakonam in her honour. “The trust instituted in memory of Saraswathi Bhayi will present an award to the best health worker in the state on her death anniversary from next year,” he said.