Mangalore (Karnataka): As an Indian child adopted and raised in Germany, Marie Chaya Scoop, was always curious about her origins and the whereabouts of her birth mother.
It was in 1981 that Scoop was adopted from an orphanage in Karnataka's Mangalore by a German couple as a six-year-old.
Despite having a home, a family and a world full of opportunities — the only thing missing was a sense of belonging.
Her adoptive parents were always open about her background, which brought her to India in the year 2000, and, so began Scoop's quest to find her biological mother.
With nothing, but a black and white picture of her mother and some faint memories, 43-year-old Scoop has been travelling the length and breadth of Karnataka, approaching lawyers, police and the orphanage she was adopted from to trace her roots, with little success so far.
"In my heart I always longed fro my biological mother and I always shared a very strong bond with her. Since 2000, I have been coming to India and I make sure that I come here (India) at least once in a year. I approached a lawyer in Bangalore because the place I was adapted from was refusing to cooperate and provide me with details of my biological parents. I got a High Court order in 2009, which asked the police to investigate, because it is a human right to know your roots, your place of birth and the whereabouts of your mother, " said Scoop.