Jayamma, in her early seventies, begins her mornings by cooking sambar and rice for one. She tends to her small arecanut plantation near Doddlimane, occasionally hiring help for maintenance. Her husband, Srinivas Gowda, passed away 15 years ago. Her son, Prasanna, died some time later while working in Bengaluru. Now she manages her half-acre holding and the heavy silence that surrounds it, alone.Many houses across Agumbe in Tirthahalli taluk are occupied by solitary elderly residents, predominantly women. While this is the reality of many villages, the terrain of the Malnad specifically — where homes lie scattered across plantations and forest areas — compounds their isolation. Residents must traverse long distances to reach the nearest neighbour. Many of their days pass without encountering another human being.“What to do? We are adjusted to it. I have to look after an arecanut plantation and another few guntas of agricultural land. Occasionally, I visit my daughter’s house, which is a few kilometres away,” Ms. Jayamma said.Her neighbour, Anitha, lives alone most of the time, though she has the company of her son, a degree college student in Tirthahalli. Ms. Anitha lost her daughter, Ashika, eight years ago in July 2018, in a tragic drowning incident. The girl was crossing a stream while returning from school when she fell from a makeshift footbridge. By then, Anitha had already lost her husband. In nearby houses, Mahesh Bhat, Parvathakka and Mukamma also live alone.A consistent patternAcross the Malnad region in Shivamogga and neighbouring districts, a pattern repeats: children have migrated to cities for education and employment, visiting rarely. Elders, bound by land, memory and arecanut plantations that demand constant care, choose to stay behind. Houses once bustling with multiple generations have become solitary outposts.“The children settle in big cities and visit home only during holidays and festivals. The elders are forced to stay here to maintain their plantations,” said A.G. Nityanand, a resident of Honnethal. He identified numerous houses in Doddlimane, Honnethal, Donehaklu, Kunda, Changar, Shiruru and Kendalbail where elderly people live alone.