When 30-year-old Haseeb Ali from Bihar’s Gaya district went missing two years ago, his family searched for him across railway stations and public places and even filed a missing complaint with the police. Their desperate wait ended almost four years later when they spotted his photograph in a national daily, published by a Pune-based NGO.“It was almost two years, but could not find him,” Haseeb’s nephew Sarafraj told TOI. His uncle was unwell ever since his mother passed away, and they were shocked when informed that he had travelled to Pune from Gaya and was spotted by the roadside.In another case from Karnataka’s Raichur, a 20-year-old girl, Sharada, left home after a quarrel with her mother and boarded a train to Pune. After a few days, she developed health problems and went to a police station in Pimpri Chinchwad and was referred to a shelter home. Sharada’s father, Siddhappa, a head constable with Karnataka Police, did his best to find his daughter and registered a missing complaint and shared information with railway police.“Almost two months after she left home, we received a call from Savali Shelter home in Pimpri Chinchwad informing us that our daughter was safe with them. We immediately left to bring her home,” Siddhappa said.The woman was disturbed and had not spoke to anyone at the shelter home, but counselling helped and shared her father’s contact number after two weeks of her stay with them which helped us reunite with our daughter. “If it was not for Hussain and his team, I would not have got my daughter back,” Siddhappa said.Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Pimpri runs ‘Real Men Real People’, to help the homeless. He and his team have helped reunite over 700 missing or abandoned people with their families. “We take help from the police and counselling to trace their families. Often, the local district administration helps us trace the families and reunite their lost members” Hussain said.He came to Pune from Bihar in 1997 in search of work. He sold pens in local trains and outside hospitals, spent nights at railway stations before dedicating his life to helping the homeless, many found outside govt hospitals or abandoned on the streets in poor health.After working independently, he established the trust in 2010. “I was moved by incidents I experienced while selling pens on hospital premises which made me realise how people struggle for survival. I swore to help such people,” Hussain said.He sold his house and farmland in his hometown to continue his work as help from local communities was difficult, but people got him connected. Today, the shelter home named Savali run by the municipal corporation where 70 homeless and mentally unstable people are provided shelter and food.“We often stumble upon cases where people left their homes after quarrels or mental illness. We counsel them and get help from the police and local administration to reunite them with their families,” he said.
