Chennai: It was the afternoon of July 27 when Jacob, a social worker at Udhavum Karangal, chanced upon Emmanuel (18) in the lanes of Gummananchavadi, Porur. With his grubby hair, decrepit clothes and barefoot, he was in a very bad state, volunteers recall.
“When Jacob asked him if he'd like to come along with him to Udhavum Karangal, he agreed immediately with no questions. It was only later that he asked Jacob as to where they were heading. He was extremely co-operative,” says Malik Arjun, another social worker from Udhavum Karangal.
“ We put Emmanuel under a psychiatrist's care and one of our volunteers Srinivasa Rao, who speaks both Hindi and Telugu continually interacted with him in the hope of finding out any detail which would help us find his family,” he adds.
Albeit the volunteers' knowledge of Hindi, Emmanuel's Hindi slang was quite different which made it quite challenging for them to comprehend what he was saying, says Vidyaakar, founder of Udavum Karangal. “ Emmanuel was able to provide us with some information. He mentioned 'Jharkhand', 'Adivasi colony' and 'St Joseph's school'. With this, we rushed to the nearest post office and got in touch with Jharkhand police station,” he narrates.
Luckily, the police were able to trace Emmanuel's family quickly. They would later learn that his parents John Kongari, an engineer in South Eastern Railway, and Christina Kongari, a Christian preacher from West Singhbhum, Jharkhand, had been frantically searching for him for the past one year.
“When we contacted the parents they were beyond overwhelmed. The entire family, including his two sisters, took the next train to Chennai and reached our place this morning,” says Malik Arjun.
What followed was a heart-rending reunion, say the volunteers at Udhavum Karangal.” Emotions were running high. It was such a beautiful moment,” they recall.
“The family even brought sweets, biscuits and exotic fruits from their region and distributed them to everyone at our home,” they say.
“ We have a patient Nagina (52), whom we rescued at Tiruvannamalai. She has been desperately waiting to get back to her family. Despite our repeated attempts, we couldn't locate them, owing to language issues and she has been stranded here for almost one and a half years now. Emmanuel's father came forward to help us and after interacting with her in her language has given us some valuable information. Efforts are now underway to get her back home,” says Vidyaakar.
The parents were also counselled on the need for continued mental health treatment for Emmanuel and have been referred to a psychiatrist in their hometown Jharkhand. They have also been provided with free medicines for a month.
