KOLLAM: Suffering from trauma, Shiva Choudary had forgotten even the name of his mother. However, the moment he saw Madhu, his mother who came all the way from Katni, Madhya Pradesh, to take him back, the 19-year-old instantly recognised her and burst into tears. It was a moving scene for the volunteers who had been taking care of him at a shelter home here.
Shiva had left his home eight months ago in search of work to support his family. However, the second wave of Covid upset his plans and he got trapped in Kollam in the lockdown. The police found Shiva, unconscious with bruises all over his body, at a street in Kilikollur and took him to the Corporation-run shelter home at the Government Model Boys HSS.
Though the volunteers found Shiva’s Aadhaar card in his bag, their efforts to get in touch with his relatives ended in vain. Shiva, who was in shock, could not remember much about himself. He uttered just one name — Smarty Govindraj — occasionally. The civil defence volunteers posted that name, along with whatever details they had gathered from his Aadhaar card, on Facebook.
“The name Shiva kept repeating was that of a relative of his. He had gone to Govindaraj in Chennai looking for work. He does not remember how he reached Kerala. Shiva’s relatives contacted me through Govindaraj. Madhu and her brother arrived in Kollam and Mayor Prasanna Ernest handed Shiva over to them. Everyone was moved by the reunion,” said S Vipin, a volunteer.