A triumph of teamwork

BACK in 2006, I got an opportunity to work with the All India Pingla Ashram in Patiala, the city where I had settled after retirement. The ashram housed about 150 inmates, most of them mentally challenged. Facilities were modest — a small building and a makeshift kitchen where meals were cooked using firewood. I was keen that the kitchen should switch over to LPG. I discussed the idea with an ex-colleague, who readily donated a gas tawa for making chapatis. Thanks to contributions from donors like Sarbat da Bhala Trust and local residents, the ashram underwent a transformation. The building was expanded, while an ambulance and other vehicles were procured.

In 2019, a woman named Anjali was admitted to the ashram by Government Rajindra Hospital in a mentally disturbed condition. Gradually, she began showing improvement and occasionally spoke a few words. A staffer noted that she seemed to be speaking in Bengali.

Patiala has a big railway unit, the Diesel Loco Modernisation Works (now known as Patiala Locomotive Works), where people from many states, including West Bengal, are employed. I contacted one of its employees who lived in my residential complex. He introduced me to Mr Adhikari, his colleague from West Bengal. I told him about Anjali, and he soon paid a visit to the ashram. After speaking with her, he was able to gain information about her brother’s village.

Later, one of his colleagues visited that remote village in West Bengal and contacted her family. Her brother was surprised to know that she was in Punjab, but he said they could not support her due to financial constraints. I then thought of tracing her in-laws. Mr Adhikari again came to my help. We managed to learn that they lived near Tundla in Uttar Pradesh. My wife told me that our former neighbours from Bathinda, now settled in Mohali, had relatives in Firozabad, near Tundla. I contacted another friend, who put me in touch with his brother-in-law, Sunil.

Sunil sent his assistant on a bike to the village and soon informed me that Anjali’s father-in-law was overjoyed to hear that she had been found — after six long years.

Three days later, her in-laws arrived at the ashram. They thanked the staff with folded hands for sheltering and caring for her. Finally, with gratitude in their hearts, they took Anjali home.

During those emotional moments, I remembered everyone who had helped me in this noble pursuit. Without their unstinting support and cooperation, Anjali’s reunion with her family would not have been possible. It was a triumph of teamwork and goodwill.