 A child widow, she was the daughter of Doddamane Krishnaiah Subbaiah Hegde of Siddapura taluk in Uttara Kannada district, whose family is well known for its sacrifices during the Indian Freedom Movement in Bombay Karnataka.Plunging into the Freedom Movement in 1930, she joined Mahatma Gandhi's ashram at Wardah.She was a close associate of Acharya Vinobha Bhave and Jamnalal Bajaj.