Jwala

Jwala, a fireball with an incredible zest for living

by Prem Narayani, the singer

6.6.1941 – born Lynda James in Long Island, USA
13.4.1999 – Jwala had a severe stroke (bleeding from an aneurysm) in Goa
13.3.2022 – She left the body peacefully in the morning in Van Nuys, Los Angeles

Ma Dhyan Jwala was born in Long Island, USA, on 6 June 1941, the oldest of 4 siblings. Her family is descended from Russian Jews. She always said she didn’t like the country she was born in, and she’d say, “My sisters are Jewish, I’m not”. Most of what I know about her years before she came to Osho are from her oldest friend, of 50 years, Joan. Joan met Jwala, then called Lynda, at the end of the 70s in New York. Jwala studied to be a journalist and worked for a book manufacturing company, then later for several years as a production manager at Random House in New York.

Then came a move to Costa Rica where she lived for about 25 years. Jwala always knew how to live well. She and her then girlfriend built a beautiful house in the mountains above San Jose, where they lived for many years. She continued to work as a journalist, running and publishing a magazine called Tico Times, which was also connected to cable TV. Due to economic problems in Costa Rica the magazine went bankrupt and Jwala then worked as a freelance writer for a newspaper.

Jwala came to Osho probably somewhere in the early 80s. She spent a lot of time in Pune, working in Healing Arts. She studied and gave Colourpuncture sessions and was also passionate about Tachyon Technologies. At another time she had a room in, and supported Amma’s work in, Amma’s Kerala ashram. She loved being in India.

She and I first met briefly in Miasto while I was on tour with Milarepa in 1993. We met again 3 years later in Pune and soon became partners. Jwala always loved and supported the arts, music and the musicians and I think she probably noticed me as a singer. Jwala and I then lived together in Pune from Autumn ’98.

She always loved travelling, exploring new places, and meeting new people. She was a feisty character, full of energy, always on the move, loving riding her motorbike around Koregaon Park. She loved meeting friends, throwing parties, giving Colourpuncture and Tachyon sessions and promoting Tachyon healing products, which she felt passionate about. She read avidly and enjoyed novels. She loved speaking Spanish and enjoyed speaking the language with people she met during her travels.

We spent our time living in Pune and in Goa, where we had rented a flat. I had just started to make a CD with some sannyasin friends and had booked a studio in Candolim to do the first recordings. Musician friends had come from Pune, Adarsha and Ramadhan amongst them.

The day before we were due to begin I returned from a bike ride and found Jwala unconscious on the floor. From that moment onwards everything changed. I remember carrying her downstairs with the help of 4 other people, including Ramadhan and Adarsha. We rushed her to a hospital in Goa. I remember the electricity failing and nurses rushing with manual pumps to make sure she kept breathing. Jwala was in a coma for 48 hours and did not breathe independently those first few days. A neurologist told me, ‘Get her out of here, she will die here’.

Jwala had given me a credit card in my name, adding, ‘This is for an emergency’. Little did she know she would be the emergency. Flying her to Mumbai was the only option as it would be too dangerous to have her travel by road. Jwala had left her passport in Pune, so getting the necessary money out of her account was a challenge. Luckily, Rani (Dutch) heard what had happened and rushed to Goa from Pune to support me. She wonderfully convinced the bank to give me the money on showing only a copy of the passport. The plane was rented, we were accompanied by 2 doctors and a nurse, Rani came along, and I sang. Jwala loved this and smiled most of the way.

I remember spending a few weeks in Mumbai, roaming the streets while Jwala recovered from the surgical clipping of an aneurysm.

We returned to Pune in an ambulance. By this time Jwala was awake, although still not able to sit up by herself. It was clearly going to be a long recovery. Our flat was 3 stories up so we rented an apartment from a friend. Once Jwala was a bit better we were able to move back into our own apartment. That brought other challenges, as she was unable to walk up or down 3 flights of stairs, so we had to carry her – a friend and I, or a strong neighbour.

After taking care of her for about 15 months I arranged to get her back to the United States where a social worker met us at the airport. Jwala spent 2.5 years recovering and learning to walk again, in the Los Angeles area, where her family lives. Part of this time she was a resident in a stroke unit, where her recovery improved.

Jwala was able to return to Pune in 2003. The details of all the trips between Pune, Los Angeles and my house, have blurred, but she went back to Pune twice and also stayed in Goa for about 9 months. She just loved being in India and enjoyed spending time with the local people. In 2010 it took some help from friends and the US embassy to get her out of India for the last time as her visa had finished.

After the stroke, Jwala changed a lot. In one way, she became more relaxed, enjoyed hanging out more, became milder and more tolerant – but when she did not like you, she could give you the end of her walking stick! But she spent much more time just enjoying, still connecting with everyone she met. I remember one day while she was staying with me in Antwerp, a stranger came to my door, asking for her. Typical Jwala.

One of the more difficult ongoing issues for her after the stroke was that she became very sound- and smell-sensitive.

For the past 12 years Jwala lived in the Los Angeles area. Initially she wanted to go back to Costa Rica but when that did not happen, she stayed in California, close to one of her sisters, who assisted her. The last 9 years she was lucky enough to live in a lovely apartment (a Jewish Senior Home) where she was able to live independently, but with all the help she needed. She was loved and well taken care of. One of the staff recently called her ‘their most colour-loving client’. Sadly the sister who assisted her died in July ’21, which left Jwala pretty much on her own as she was estranged from her other siblings.

During those last 12 years she visited me 3 times. Her love for me was unwavering and we stayed beloved friends throughout. She knew that as an American living in Europe, her care would have become fully my responsibility and she did not want to be a burden.

When I did not hear from her on my birthday last December, I realised something was wrong. When I managed to speak to her a few days later, her breathing and speech were laboured, but I understood she had been in hospital for an operation, and now was in rehab. 10 days after that call I received an email from a consultant psychologist to the facility where she lived. She let me know Jwala had been operated on for an old stomach ulcer. I learned quite quickly that my friend was weak, wheelchair bound and in low spirits. She was not recovering as well as hoped, and she could lose her independence and go into an old people’s care home. As she was hypersensitive to noise and smells since the stroke, that prospect sounded horrible to her and was devastating to me, but that did not happen.

March 1, I received an email saying Jwala’s health had deteriorated and she was now put into ‘Comfort Care’ as she was not expected to recover. It was now clear that Jwala was on her way out. I talked to her 3-4 times and even got to see her via video. We had eye contact, waved and sent kisses, which – we both knew – were goodbye.

During those last conversations when we were discussing her leaving, we talked about her wish to be cremated and have her ashes sent to me so that I could take them to India. As her ‘one good sister’ had died, she considered me her family. On Saturday 12 March I was preparing for another phone call in which more difficult issues would be discussed, like the advance payment for a cremation service. When I called the next day I found out that Jwala had left the body peacefully that morning. A very sad moment, but I was also relieved that she would not have to suffer in a weakened body.

For me it is the last chapter of a stormy journey. It will be the end of an era when I finally take her ashes to Goa. Since she did not manage to prepare for this in a way that would make it easy, there are still challenges ahead. However, I can see myself in a little boat, with a friend or 2, music and flowers, and leaving her ashes in the ocean in the country and amongst the people she most loved.

More Tributes

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote by writing to web@oshonews.com (pls add ‘Jwala’ in the subject field).

Beloved Jwala…

I have been thinking of you on again off again since leaving Pune in the 90s. I always pictured you in Costa Rica… an energetic, caring peppercorn, passionate about tachyon and the place you lived in. We didn’t stay in contact.

The last couple of months I remembered you more often… wondering… the tachyon wrist band you gave me as a gift for joint pain back when is still in my top drawer when not in use. Even though I moved around quite a bit since we last met, that little thing wanted to stay with me.

Little did I know about your joys and challenges and that you ended up living so close by the last few years.

You left a ‘print’ – light and friendly…

Thank you.

Saakit