Bengaluru: Granddaughter's classmate reunites missing 83-year-old man with family

BENGALURU: An 83-year-old man who went missing on Tuesday afternoon was found and rescued in less than a day after his family widely circulated his photograph on various social media platforms seeking help. The senior citizen was spotted and rescued by his granddaughter's former schoolmate, who had seen the related posts.
RP Harinath, a former Indian Air Force and BEL employee, was found near Cauvery theatre on Ballari Road, about 8.5km away from his house in Jaladarshini Layout, near New BEL Road.
Manik Nihal, 23, pursuing law at Presidency University, recognised Harinath. "On Tuesday, I noticed over 15 to 20 stories on Instagram about a missing senior citizen. After a friend pointed it out on Wednesday morning, I realised that Harinath uncle was the grandfather of a classmate of mine from 11th & 12th standard. At that time, I prayed for uncle's safety," Manik said.
Manik was on his way to attend an interview for an internship when he noticed Harinath looking very perplexed. He was on a pavement and had no footwear. "I recognised him from the pictures I had seen on social media. As soon as I walked up to him and told him that I'm his granddaughter Nilambika's friend, he broke into tears as he had been so scared and alone all along. He told me it was so nice to hear a familiar name after hours," said Manik.
Manik told TOI that at that point, reuniting Harinath with his family seemed more important that making it to the interview. By the time Manik reached Harinath's residence, it was about 23 hours since the elderly man had gone missing.
Harinath, who has been suffering from dementia for nearly five years, could not recall where all he had gone, where he spent the night and if he even ate anything in those 23 hours. He had left his house, where he lived with his wife, even without his slippers and their new security guard, who wasn't aware of his condition, didn't bother to stop him, said his family members.
Kavitha Hegde, Harinath's daughter, said: "These 23 hours were really difficult for the entire family. My father was diagnosed with dementia five years ago, but it has been deteriorating. We have got him a tracker which, unfortunately, he didn't have on him while leaving the house. We had over 40 people searching for him.'
Kavitha took the help of social media to share details and photographs of her father to spread the word. "Until Wednesday, I wasn't a big fan of social media, but this seems to be a boon to us. The boy, who skipped his interview to reunite my father with me and the family is our guardian angel. We don't know how to thank him. It is people like him and stories like this that restore our faith in humanity," said Kavitha.
"My dad always says, 'More things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of.' I believe we have seen this today in the collective prayer of Bengalureans," Kavitha said, adding that they sincerely hope that no one has to ever go through this kind of pain.