3 min readPuneOct 10, 2024 12:24 PM IST
First published on: Oct 10, 2024 at 12:24 PM IST
She calls herself ‘Usha’ but her brother told the psychiatrist and nurse at Nagpur’s Shraddhawan Rehabilitation Centre that she would never remember her name. Twelve years ago, Usha, then in her early 30s, was married and had two sons before she wandered off.
Usha’s husband, a school teacher in Jabalpur, remarried after a few years while her mother and brother from Dungariya village in Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh also lost hope. Efforts made by the Nagpur branch of Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation- headquartered in Karjat helped ‘Usha’ reunite with her brother and mother on October 7 this year.
The foundation, established two decades ago by noted psychiatrist and Magsaysay award winner Dr Bharat Vatwani to address the issue of mentally-ill destitutes wandering aimlessly on streets, opened their Nagpur centre this year.
On June 24, Shraddhawan project coordinator and social worker Mayuri Bhong responded to a report about a mentally ill woman wandering near Bhole petrol pump in Dharampeth, Nagpur. “Usha had been roaming the area for 3–4 years in a dishevelled state, with matted hair and no change of clothes,” Chetna Naitamkar, nurse at Shraddhawan rehab, Nagpur, told The Indian Express.
“Locals had noticed her but did not know how to help her. It was with the assistance of the Sitabuldi police station that the Shraddhawan team was able to rescue her and helped her reunite with her family on October 7 this year,” Dr Swarali Kondwilkar, associate psychiatrist at the rehab said. “One needs to look beyond oneself, at the weakest in the society. There would have been no closure had concerned citizens not reported it,” Dr Kondwilkar said.
Dr Dilip Gupta, president of Swami Vivekanand Medical Mission, who supports Shraddhawan in providing concessions on medical investigations for admitted destitutes informed the Shraddhawan team, who along with Sitabuldi police and Seoni police worked towards rehabilitating Usha. While the team at the centre treated her mental illness (diagnosed as schizophrenia), Dr Sudhir Mahajan, secretary, Nagpur’s Psychiatric Society, said they would regularly visit the centre and follow up on Usha’s recovery.
“The woman, after receiving treatment, provided her mother’s address in Keolari district, Seoni in Madhya Pradesh. She had been missing 12 years, ever since she wandered away. Her brother, Santkumar, confirmed that they had long lost hope of ever seeing her again, assuming she had passed away. Their joy was beyond words when they were informed that she was alive,” Dr Kondwilkar said.
On October 7, 2024, after months of care at Shraddhawan, Usha was declared fit for discharge by the treating psychiatrists. “The task of finding her exact home, however, proved difficult. At first, Usha could not recognise anyone, and the villagers had no recollection of her either. At this critical juncture, local police officers provided remarkable support. After searching tirelessly and sending word to nearby villages, the police received a call from her brother, who confirmed that Usha was indeed his long-lost sister,” Dr Kondwilkar said.
Usha reunites with brother and mother. (File photo) 
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