With a name & Google Maps, Rin Takahata from Japan finds dad in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 25

It was an emotional reunion for Japanese son Rin Takahata and his biological Punjabi father Sukhpal Singh who met after 20 years in Amritsar.

Rin (21) was just one-year-old when Sukhpal got separated from his mother Sachiye Takahata. There was never any communication after their separation.

A student at Osaka University of Arts in Japan, Rin — in broken English — said that during a project on making a family tree, he realised he knew the names of members on his mother’s side, but not on his father’s side.

As he knew his father’s name was Sukhpal and had old family pictures and an address in Amritsar where his mother went during the initial years of her association with Sukhpal, he decided to find out his father’s whereabouts. He searched for the location on Google Maps and reached the destination on August 15, but Sukhpal had shifted from there.

“As I had old pictures of my father, I tried to locate him by asking the local people. To my luck, a person recognised my father and arranged his new address for me. That’s how I was able to reunite with him after over 19 years,” Rin added.

He brought with him old family photographs of her mother and father Sukhpal carrying him when he was just one-year-old in Japan. So on Raksha Bandhan (August 19), Rin met his father and half-sister Avleen Kaur.

Sukhpal said that it was a pleasant surprise that a past chapter of his life had unfolded before him. “I never expected it. I am happy that my present wife, Gurvinderjit Kaur, and my only daughter, Avleen, too welcomed Rin in the family wholeheartedly,” he said. Sukhpal said that he spoke to Sachiye on the phone and intimated her about the well-being of Rin. “When I told him about Rakhsha Bandhan, he googled it and was thrilled to know its significance. Rin and Avleen now share a strong brother-sister bond,” he said.

Though Rin was scheduled to return tomorrow, he got his stay extended for a few more days. Sukhpal took him to the Golden Temple to seek blessings. Together, they also watched the Beating Retreat ceremony at the Attari border.

Sukhpal said that he came across Sachiye accidentally at Thailand airport in early 2000 when he was coming back to India. “Our seats on the plane were next to each other. That’s how we had our first conversation. She was heading to New Delhi and Agra to visit the Red Fort and Taj Mahal. I asked Sachiye to extend her tour to Amritsar after telling her about the Golden Temple. She immediately said yes and we came to Amritsar. She stayed with my family for over a fortnight. We visited the Red Fort and Taj Mahal, besides the local tourist places, during her stay here,” he said.

Sukhpal added that they remained in touch even when she returned to Japan.

“I was just 19-20 years then. Sachiye sponsored my visit to Japan where I married her in 2002. A year later, Rin was born. I learnt Japanese and worked there as a chef, but we could not get along well. So, I returned to India. She came to see me with Rin and took me along to Japan once again, but we could not get along again. We consented to mutual divorce in 2004. I stayed in Japan for three years after that, but never met them. In 2007, I returned to India and remarried. Since then, I have been living here. Now, we and Rin will be in touch,” he added.