Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Saving (Finding actually) Private Bahadur

Circa July 2007

Saving (or Finding) private Bahadur

This is Men (Meen) Bahadur, a 10-year old Nepali kid at the Government Boys Home (Located close to both KIDWAI memorial hospital and NIMHANS) in Bangalore. Sitting behind him in the long corridor of the Boys home and crying, is a mentally disturbed inmate. I asked the officials why that kid was crying. They told me that it had become a routine for that boy to cry and wail without any provocation. His condition was due to his disturbed state of mind. I said to myself, that if there was anyone with a real reason to cry then it had to be Men Bahadur. But, Men wasn't crying.

Circa October 2007 (Four months later)

I had a casual chat with one of our reporters regarding the stories I've worked so far with. The story about Men Bahadur came up during this conversation. The reporter told me that she had recently visited the Government Boys Home, and had found out that Men was still an inmate there. We may need a miracle to send Men Bahadur to where he belonged to. And the place he belongs to, may not really be his homeland, Nepal. It could be a place in India; a place where his brother, Kishan Bahadur happens to posted as an Army personnel.

People who might know his brother may call him as Kishan, Bahadur, sepoy, Colonel, Captain, Lance Naik or maybe 'Private Bahadur'. Let's try to find and locate Kishan Bahadur and then send Men back to him. After all, 'little Men' left Nepal and fled to Bangalore in India on his own, because he was in search of his brother.

The story of Men Bahadur: Please read..

Men has been living in Bangalore for the past six years, which roughly means that he ran away from Nepal when he was around 4 years old. Besides the fact that he stayed near a mountain and a lake in Nepal, he doesn't remember anything. And the bad news is that as days pass by, it would be difficult for anyone to help him since there is a risk that he would forget even the little he remembers now.

According to Men, his real parents died when he was very young. After that he was taken care of by foster parents. He says that his foster father used to beat him up a lot and that prompted him to run away from home frequently. Unhappy with his foster family, Men longed to be with his elder brother Kishan who had left Nepal to join the Defence services in India (Probably the Ghorka regiment). Only information about his elder brother which the little kid had with him was that Kishan was undergoing some training in a place called Bangalore. Then one day little Men decided to go in search of his brother. Then what followed is quite unclear as Men says that he boarded a bus from Nepal to Bangalore. Thousands of kilometers apart it is unlikely that there is a bus service between Nepal and Bangalore. His exact journey from Nepal to Bangalore is unknown but what is clear is that somehow a four year old child from Nepal found himself lost in the streets of the city which is often referred to as the silicon valley of India

One day, the police officials luckily found Men on the streets. They admitted him at Makkala Ashraya Kendra (MAK) . However, he used to often run away from there. Men says that he was very happy at MAK, but when on being questioned why he used to run away from that place, his reply was that he was searching for his brother.

MAK was fed up of his vagabond ways and didn't wan't him. Hence he is currently at the Government Boys Home. They are trying hard to put him back in Makkala Ashraya Kendra. But ultimately that's not what Men wants. His real home would be with his brother.

His search is still on. Men has to find his brother. Do you want to help Men find his brother?
It is going to be a tough man-hunt. The only clues we have are his name (Kishan Bahadur), his country of origin(Nepal), his job (works for Indian Army), once upon time he was in Bangalore for some training, and he has little brother(Men Bahadur :-) ) who has gone missing from home since many years .

I request you to pass on the link to this post ( www.unconventionallife.blogspot.com/2007/10/saving-finding-actually-private-bahadur.html ) to your friends who are in the army or are from Nepal, or maybe to friends who might know anyone in the army or Nepalese living in India. I sincerely hope that this will be worth the effort and someday Men reunites with his brother.

5 comments:

Viewer said...

Hi, came across ur blog through somewhere, pretty interesting posts u have here. Will keep coming back

jyothy karat said...

ill forward this to my friends too.. but do keep me posted on whatever happens orite...and hey, keep up the good work:)

TicketCounters said...

Nishant, this is a great initiative you have taken up...
I will send this links to my friends too.
Hope that you are succesful in this initiative and get the two brothers together...

Anonymous said...

Hello!Nishant, read your article today.
Meen bahadur could be from Pokhara, Nepal as it has the Phewa Taal(lake) and the Machapuchare (fishtail) mountain. If his brother is in the Indian army then he would have been recruited at the Gorkha RTG Depot,Gorakhpur(UP) as Pokhara comes under Gandaki anchal(zone. Some zones of Nepal are recruited in Gorakhpur and some in Darjeeling.
Gorkha Rtg Depot, Kunraghat Gorakhpur UP-273008
Ph- 273035
Gorkha Rtg Depot,Ghoom, Darjeeling
WB-734102.
You could enquire here about his brother.
His eyes are sad but still hopeful!!!!I hope you find him.
Good luck with the search!!!!

Raju said...

Hi Nishat... got ur link from somewhere.. i hv read many a blogs, but u r really doing a great work.. i ll definitely forward this article to all my nepali army friends.. good work.. keep it up