RAIPUR: An 83-year-old widow, staying in Bengaluru with her grandsons, left home to board a train for Tamil Nadu, where she was going to collect her old-age pension.
But accidentally, Pupatti Amma boarded a Visakhapatnam-bound train. On reaching Vizag, she was at a loss and decided to return. But again, she took the train and instead landed in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
This happened in March, just before the lockdown. Amma was found roaming by volunteers of Red Cross Society in Jagdalpur.
“Initially she couldn’t convey to us how she reached here. She was speaking Kannada. We took help of translator and shifted her to an old age home,” said district collector Rajat Bansal.
Stuck in Bastar as the lockdown was announced, Amma was unable to talk with others and was often in tears, though gradually she got accustomed to the new environment.
“We managed to speak to her grandson Sendil, who was shocked to learn that she had reached Chhattisgarh,” said Alexander M Cherian, vice-president of district Red Cross Society.
Since Kumar, a porter, was unable to arrange money for her return, Bansal said the district administration has decided to help her return safely.
Epic search for contact
A damaged piece of paper with numbers indistinctly written was the only clue. Well-wishers kept trying various combinations till they got the mobile no right.