Tears of joy streamed down Namakkal resident Santhi’s face when she laid eyes on her son after more than three years.
A resident of the city Corporation’s beggar rehabilitation centre Sakshatkaram, Santhi had been looking forward to meeting her elder son ever since she spoke to him over phone more than two months ago.
As fate would have it, Surya, her son, lost his phone and with it the numbers of those who had informed him about Santhi.
Santhi had been living with her sons after the death of her husband Badru. Following a domestic dispute, she left home and met a person who made her beg for alms.
Both were picked up by the police from the Central railway station and brought to the rehabilitation home.
Recently, efforts were made to find her family. Dhanya, a Master of Social Work student at Indira Gandhi National Open University who helped in the search, used Google Earth to identify landmarks in Namakkal that Santhi mentioned.
Locating Surya was not easy, but once that was done, he was on the phone speaking to his mother. Santhi thought she would be going home with him in a few days. But things did not pan out the way she had hoped.
Demonetisation dealt the first blow, Jayalalithaa’s death led to more delays, and then Surya lost his phone.
The Namakkal police were then informed, and contact re-established with Surya.
He said he had been trying to raise money to take his mother back.
At noon on Friday, Surya had an emotional reunion with Santhi.
