Dhenkanal man returns home after 41 years

DHENKANAL: Truth, sometimes is stranger than fiction, they say. The curious case of Dhenkanal's Biswanath Yadav has proved it beyond doubt.
On Friday, Biswanath returned to his Kamakshyanagar home which he left 41 years ago. What happened in between is no less thrilling than an O Henry story.
Biswanath, whose original name was Pathani Naik, was born in Kantioputasahi Village, 17km away from Dhenkanal town.He had two brothers and four sisters. After the death of his father Rasiya Nayak in 1971, the family suffered from grinding poverty. Dejected, Biswanath, then only 15, left home and boarded a train to Kolkata. A TTE nabbed him for travelling without ticket and Biswanath was sent to jail.
"I was imprisoned in Kolkata for a month. Later I wandered from one place to another in Assam, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Chhattisgarh in search of a job. I started working as a hotel boy in Chhatishgarh. I used to take leftover food in those days," said Yadav recalling his past. "After being impressed with my work, the hotel owner, Santharam Yadav adopted me as his son and took care of me. He changed my name from Pathani to Biswanath.
Later, he settled with his family in Chhattisgarh. Now he is an efficient cook, "My children are economically sound. My two sons are doing business and the other two are studying in school," he added.
Biswanath's reunion with his family on Friday was not a smooth affair. First, he could not trace the right way to his village. After reaching Sadashivpur railway station, he went to the bank of Brahmani River and kept waiting for hours to get a boat. As he could find none, he asked some women taking bath on the river bank, about the ferry service. They told him about the bridge that was built over the river. They also requested a truck driver to drop him near Kantioputasahi.
Biswanath's ordeal didn't end there. None could recognize him in the village. After much searching, he found his home, but, none could identify him there, too. It was only after his elder brother Kartik Nayak returned home, that the family could be sure of his identity. The two brothers' meeting, after over four decades, was then a highly emotional affair.
"It was a dream come true for me to see my uncle. I have heard his name since my childhood, but today I got him at home, said Pramod Nayak, his 34-year-old nephew.
Yadav, on the other hand, promised he would bring his wife and children to his native village to celebrate "Raja festival" in June. The new generation of the two families will bring back the old days, he reiterated.