On 30 March 1981, Savitri suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed on her right side. She had to give up her apartment and live with friends in Delhi and Jaipur as she recuperated. Although she eventually regained some mobility and ability to write, her capacity to live on her own was diminished. Some German friends persuaded her to fly to Germany where she could receive better medical care and rehabilitation therapy. On 4 October 1981, she flew to Germany, where she stayed at a convalescent home, which she hated, and then with friends. The German government, however, expelled her at the end of three months, and she went to France, where she stayed with friends and then was placed by the authorities, against her will, in two convalescent homes, which she hated. In April of 1982, Beryl Cheetham visited Savitri in the second of these homes in Lozanne near Lyons, where she took this photo. Savitri was depressed by her surroundings and disabilities, but her mental powers were undimmed.