At Haridwar’s holy ghats, a middle-aged man in an almond-coloured T-shirt walks around, frequently stopping strangers and waving a crumpled orange-and-yellow poster. The poster bears the photo of a bearded young man in a white kurta and a sky-blue scarf around his neck, along with the words: “Missing Person: Rs 51,000 reward for anyone who provides any information”. Since August 1, Amar Chand Samria, a 50-year-old LIC agent from Rajasthan’s Beawar district, has been looking for his missing 25-year-old son Rupin Samria, last seen just before the flash floods of Kedarnath. According to government data, at least 79 people have died, 37 have been injured, and 25 are still missing since June 15 due to rain-related disasters in the state. Rupin, an engineer from IIT Roorkee who embarked on pilgrimage to the shrine with his friend Ghanendra Singh (25) on July 29, was at the Gaurikund base camp on July 31 when the floods struck. The oldest of two sons, Rupin graduated on July 27. "I spent the first week searching for him everywhere on the route. Then someone suggested that I put up posters and announce a reward,” he says now, his voice hoarse from all the talking he’s been doing while looking for his eldest son. According to Ghanendra, Rupin wanted to visit the shrine after securing his degree. On July 31, he and Rupin stopped to camp at Gaurikund on their way back from the shrine, he says. “Rupin had lost his phone. So around 8.30 pm, after we reached Gaurikund, he called his father using my phone,” he says. “I assured his father that we would be fine and that Rupin would call again once we’ve found a hotel.” But they never found a hotel. Within minutes of this phone call, when a large boulder struck nearby, unleashing a torrent of water. Ghanendra’s foot got caught and he fell into the gushing water, fainting. The last time he saw Rupin, his friend’s backpack had caught on something in the gushing waters. “I floated for around 150-200 meters and finally got stuck in a pile of wood,” he says. When he woke up an hour later, there was no sign of his friend. “I chanted the Hanuman Chalisa and ran to the Gaurikund police station, where I told them everything,” he says. For over a month now, Ghanendra has been helping Amar Chand look for his lost son. So far, the duo has put up 300 posters and distributed over 1,000 pamphlets. “Then an astrologer predicted that my son was alive and within 23 km of where he was last seen. So, I have rented a bike and am currently searching everywhere within that radius… Next, I will trek to Baba Kedar and search for him there. Maybe seeing his friend getting washed away did something to him and he's hiding," Amar Chand says, adding that his wife Vandana and second son Siddharth are getting worried. According to Ghanendra, Rupin was always interested in business and entrepreneurship and had even founded a start-up. The duo has also been using social media to make appeals in an attempt to track down the missing man. “We’re also getting help from IIT Roorkee to find him. We even wrote to the Chief Minister (Pushkar Singh Dhami), but nothing has happened so far,” he says. Despite these efforts, hope is fast fading. Ghanendra now hopes for a miracle. “I didn’t believe in miracles before, but a miracle saved me. Now I believe in miracles. And that’s what we need. We need a miracle.”
