Lost, but found in transit

SANGAM (ALLAHABAD): They are the silent good Samaritans of the Kumbh Mela. Reuniting thousands of lost persons with their families, they seek solace in their deed and not just the customary holy dips. If you ask them they are humble about their achievements: The fact that they have reunited over 5,000 missing persons with their families since Monday's mega bath.
The story formula of many super-hit Hindi films-separation of siblings and family members during Kumbh Mela-has virtually faded into oblivion, thanks to the 'bhoole bhatke shivirs' (lost and found camps), run by charitable organisations and dedicated individuals. The camps have played a key role in reuniting the lost members with their relatives. In Kumbh this year, the lost and found camps in their digital incarnation along with the traditional 'bhoole bhatke shivirs' have made searching and re-locating of missing persons more effective.
Sample this: 28-year-old Prakash Kumar, a resident of Nepal's Kailali could not find his family members near Bade Hanumaan Mandir on Makar Sankranti Day, but he was able to reunite with them at the Civil Lines bus depot. Recalling the missing saga of Prakash, his grandfather Tek Raj said, "Around noon we realised that Prakash was not with us. But we did not panic and went to the nearest 'bhoole bhatke shivir', registered the details of Prakash, which was flashed on the website of the lost and found. By night, when we reached the Civil Lines bus station, people of the 'bhoole bhatke shivir' reunited us with Prakash, much to our relief and comfort."
Another success story of reunion is of three-year-old Lokesh, a resident of Moradabad. This Makar Sankranti was indeed the happiest for Sharda, the kid's mother, when reunited with him. Staff at the lost and found camp told TOI: "Three-year-old Lokesh is not able to speak properly and was brought to the camp by cops appealing volunteers to take care of the minor and make efforts to trace his mother. It took us around three hours to find the mother of the child," said a camp official.
The joy of reuniting with her son knew no limits for Sharda, on seeing Lokesh. "I had lost all my hopes to get my son back, but it was the mercy of Maa Ganga who brought back my son. I covered at least 50 kilometres in search of my child."
Thirty two-year-old Rekha found herself lucky as she reunited with her 10-year-old missing daughter Dimple. Expressing happiness, Rekha said, "We come here to pay obeisance to Maa Ganga to fulfil our wishes fulfilled and she did it, as I got my child back."
So far, volunteers of various lost and found camps have been able to reunite more 5,000 persons with their families since Monday.
Elaborating the functioning of the web portal of the lost and found persons, Dhananjay Singh, who is managing the operations, said, "We have set up offices in six sectors of the Mela area (sector 1, sector 4, sector 6, sector 8, sector 12 and sector 14) and nearly 40 persons are involved in this operation, which is being carried out for the first time. We are co-ordinating with the traditional 'bhoole bhatke shivirs', and upload the detailed profile of the missing person on the website as soon as we get. So far the three lost and found camps at Kumbh Mela have been able to reunite more than 5,000 persons with their family members and relatives."
Another person who has been active in various Kumbhs and Ardh Kumbhs for the last 66 years, Rajaram Tiwari (86) said: "Reuniting separated families adds substantially to one's good karma. Perhaps, you need not take a holy dip to wash off sins." Tiwari along with his volunteers is camping at 'bhoole bhatke shivir' this Kumbh to do what he has been doing since 1946.
55-year-old Rishikesh resident Uttam Lal is thankful to volunteers of bhoole bhatke shivir as he got reunited with his wife who got seperated when the couple were roaming at sangam. Lal says " its undoubtedly novel deed by the volunteers to reunite families and God would surely parising their efforts.
Not only Uttam Lal, 64-year-old Shivni resident, Kumar is also thankful to volunteers. He was reunited with his niece who too got seperated from him when they had come to take a bath near sector no 4.
The octogenarian and volunteers , who have been serving the mankind on the banks of Ganga for the last the three decades, are working round the clock at sangam with the begining of Kumbh mela.
Speaking to TOI, Rajaram, who is also known as Bhool Bhatke Babaji said: "This is my fifth Kumbh and I would be serving mankind till my last breath. If we are able to reunite families, it means God has accepted our prayers."
Volunteers at the camp of 'bhoole bhatke shivir' could be seen not only making announcements through public address system, but also ensuring that children, elderly and women found get proper shelter, food and other things as they wait for their family members to come and claim them. In the past 48 hours, volunteers have reunited over 5,000 persons with their families.
Interestingly, Raja Ram Tiwari has been known as Bhoole Bhatke Babaji and if any family find their member missing, they straightly reach to the camp and wait for him or her. And, if he or she was already avaliable, they pick him or her up and return to their respective house.
"The shivir has provided services during five Kumbhs, six Ardh kumbhs and 56 Magh melas free of cost. We have reunited more than 1.22 lakh persons and their families during 2001 Kumbh. The method is simple. After taking these missing persons to the camp, members announce their details through more than 3,000 loudspeakers installed across the Sangam area. The members also contact the police outpost concerned or police station at different sectors in Mela area and initiate effective measures to search for the families," said the 86-year-old.
Doing its part, a team of police officials has been appealing mela visitors to keep a paper slip - with name, address, and phone numbers written on it- with females and children so that the volunteers or police are able to take them to their family members.
Kumar, a volunteer at one of the lost and found camps, said: "We have been offering our services for the last five years and it gives us immense satisfaction, as we are directly serving the mankind in the hours of crisis. When you are able to reunite the separated member with his or her family, it is perhaps the best karma in the world."
There are at least 30 volunteers, including women, who have been working at the various camps for three generations. The volunteers belong to different castes and creeds and also come from different parts of the nation.
Lauding the efforts of the lost and found camps, ADM, Kumbh Mela, Ashutosh Kumar Dwivedi, said: "The volunteers are doing the noble deed and Mela administration is extending all possible help to them. The volunteers deserve a round of applause as they have been working in the Kumbh Mela area for the last several decades free of cost."