SALEM: Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of Amuthavalli on Thursday when she met her mother for the first time. Poverty had forced her mother to give Amuthavalli for adoption when she was just eleven days old. Now 23, Amuthavalli learned about her past recently and came down from the Netherlands to meet them.
Amuthavalli is the second child of R Amutha and Ranganathan, a resident of Dasasamuthram near Kadaiyampatti. Her elder sister Jeniffer is 25 years old.
Since Ranganathan was addicted to liquor which added to the family's financial woes, Amutha gave Amuthavalli to a missionary in Salem, in 1998, for adoption when she was eleven days old. A couple from the Netherlands adopted Amuthavalli and took her there. She completed schooling and is running a flower boutique. Recently she came to know about her past and expressed her wish to meet the biological parents. Her adopted parents gave consent, and Amuthavalli landed in Chennai on Tuesday.
Accompanied by a guide (she knows only Dutch language), she travelled to Salem and collected details of her parents from the missionary. She went to Dharmapuri and was told that her father Ranganathan died long ago and that her mother Amutha was staying at Dasasamuthram in Salem.
When she called on Amutha, the latter could not identify her. When the guide explained who Amuthavalli was, she was stunned. The silence gave way to joy and catching wp with the past.
Amutha told media persons that she was forced to give Amuthavalli up for adoptiob because the family was not in a position to take care of her. "I regretted the decision many times. I did not even imagine that I will meet my daughter again," she added.
Amuthavalli is scheduled to return to the Netherlands on Monday. She has resolved to meet the family once in a year, her relatives said.