MUMBAI, May 13: She lived for most of her life in a bungalow before she was thrown out. Now she lies in the sick room of a destitute home, secure in the knowledge that she won't be shown the door here.

Kalpana is a resident of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Dharmsala, Nagpada, which celebrated its 150th anniversary recently.

Like her every inmate here has a story to tell. Stories of betrayals - by family, by society, by life itself.

Kalpana's problem was her bungalow in Malad, which made her a target of some builders. They wanted her to donate the house to them. And when she refused, she was locked up in a room and left to starve. When informed of her plight, social workers attached to the dharmsala went and picked her up. For the builders it was just an old woman gone missing, for the institute it was just another inmate, for Kalpana it was a second life.

The shelter home, started in 1847 by Sir Jejeebhoy in the name of District Benevolent Society of Bombay, tries in every way to make its inmates feel at home. They share a common kitchen, a prayer room and a TV room. They are made to participate in daily chores such as cutting vegetables, washing clothes and sweeping floors.

Vithal never did such things at home but he does not mind it too much now. It keeps him busy and does not allow his past to intrude upon his thought process too often. A taxi driver by profession, Vithal was admitted to a private hospital after he suffered a stroke. Unwilling to pick the tab on his treatment, his son one day bundled him into a truck and dumped him on a deserted road, where he lay bleeding until the police took him to JJ Hospital. It took four weeks for him to regain consciousness and another five months to recover completely. When asked whether he wanted to return home, Vithal said, ``My son tried to kill me, why should I go back to him?'' The institution offers psychiatric help to such people. Annie doesn't begrudge her past too much - life has been kind to him and she was smart enough to anticipate trouble. She was a spinster living with her sister and her children in a suburb. Suffering from chronic Arthritis, she used to be frequently in pain. She realised she could not go on to be a burden on her sister. She opted to move out and became a resident at the dharmsala eight years back. Her relatives visit her once in a while. ``They seem to love me more now that I am living here and not bothering them,'' she said.

Visits by relatives and friends are things that the inmates look forward to. For many the wait is long and often agonising.

But they carry on. Taking life as it comes. This year, the inmates brought out a magazine Jeevan Sandhya with the help of Nirmala Niketan students. An excerpt from an essay by Vasant Marathe: ``I entered this life alone and have to leave it alone. My only prayer to the Almighty is that He should allow me to die a death unmourned and unwept.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.