Life threw difficulties at Jayalalithaa right from her childhood. She lost her father, Jayaram at the tender age of 2 and was single-handedly raised by her actress mother Sandhya. In an interview with yesteryear star and talk show host Simi Garewal, the CM spoke of the difficulties she had to go through as a child, as her mother was a busy working woman. She spoke of how much she missed her mother and would breakdown time and again. She grew up in Bangalore while her mother was residing in Chennai. In some more interviews during the 90s, Jayalalithaa discussed about the emotional turbulence that she went through during those years.