Pathanamthitta:Doctors and staff of Pushpagiri Hospital, Tiruvalla witnessed a rare communion between a mother and son, who had not seen each other for the last 12 years.
When Sourab Sarkar, a native of West Bengal got a video call from Pushpagiri Hospital on Monday, he did not know his mother, Lokhi Sarkar, whom he thought was long dead, would be on the other end of the call. The mother and son talked for hours with teary eyes as they could not contain their emotions as the doctors and hospital staff stood watching.
Around 12 years ago Lokhi Sarkar, who is mentally challenged went missing from her house in Krishna Nagar, West Bengal. Though her family searched for her for years, they could not trace her and started to believe that Lokhi had died. But continuous efforts from Dr. Manoj Gopal from Pushpagiri Hospital finally led to the family reunion. Lokhi, who had roamed around in several parts of the country, reached Kerala around 11 months back. She was then housed at the Bethani Snehalayam, a home for the destitute, and was under treatment for her illness.
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When she was admitted to Pushpagiri hospital after contracting jaundice, Dr. Manoj Gopal was treating her. The doctor collected the details of Lokhi from the administrators of Bethani and started searching for her family.
As she only knew Bengali, she could not impart many details about her whereabouts. Dr. Manoj then contacted his relative Maya Sekhar, who had earlier worked in Bengal, seeking to help him get more details from the woman. Following Maya's persistent efforts, Lokhi could somehow recollect the address of her residence in Krishna Nagar.
Dr. Manoj then sought the help of one of his friends, who is working in the postal department, and through him contacted the postal department in Bengal. They finally managed to trace Sourab Sarkar, son of Lokhi. The doctor then called him and both the mother and son spoke after 12 long years. Sourab thanked the doctor for helping him find his mother. Sourab and relatives would soon come to Kerala to take Lokhi back to her home in Bengal.
