Mumbai: Good Samaritan reunites lost grandpa with family in Nashik

A Septuagenarian living with Alzheimers landed in a Santacruz West housing society without knowing that he had strayed so far from his Nashik home The senior citizen was spotted by a good Samaritan who made him comfortable and coaxed him into sharing his details The show of kindness and a bit of luck ensured the old man whose family owns a chain of shops was united with two of his nephews in MumbaiShankar Dewnani in the compound of Ramanika building in Santacruz WestThe heartwarming story unfolded at Ramanika building on Linking Road Extension on Wednesday At 244 pm Niket Baindur who runs a transport business discovered a tired elderly man sitting in his building compound Upon questioning he got some vague answers and it was evident that the old man dressed in black trousers and a white shirt which had some purple stains was lost and could not recollect his name or address It was then that Baindur 33 decided to call up this reporter seeking helpA gentle search of his pockets did not yield any identification documents or an address except for a railway ticket from Nashik and a bus ticket He was carrying some mangoes in a bag along with a few packets of sugar candy and Rajgira chikki that he had stuffed inside his shirt The customary gifts were an indication that he was in the city to meet family His photo was circulated on a local WhatsApp group and was shared with an officer from Santacruz but yielded no cluesRelaxed after drinking some water and a cup of black tea the elderly man asked this reporter if he was Sindhi which was not the case After prodding him repeatedly in broken Sindhi about his name and address the man finally said he was Shankar Dharamdas Dewnani and owned a toy shop called Guru Krupa very close to the railway station in NashikAs luck would have it the shop name and phone number popped up right on top in a Google search A call to the number was answered by one Jagdish Dewnani who excitedly said that his entire family was worried sick since his uncle went missing on WednesdaylsquoHe has AlzheimerrsquosrsquoldquoMy uncle who is in his late seventies has Alzheimers and often forgets that his wife who died last November is no more He only recollects that she has gone to visit her brother in JVPD and as per tradition it is his duty to go personally to fetch her back He went missing on Wednesday morning and was last seen feeding stray dogs outside our templerdquo said JagdishMeanwhile in spite of speaking to his family members on the mobile who assured him that they would be coming soon to take him home Dharamdas would repeatedly stand up and forcefully say that he was leaving for Nashik and had to be gently persuaded to sit down with the help of another building resident Rajeev Varde At around 4 pm Dharamdasrsquos two citybased nephews Vivek 48 a fashion designer and Jeetendra Dalwani 46 reached the building and a tearful reunion followedldquoThe Sindhi business community has a routine of boarding the early morning Panchvati Express to Mumbai for their purchases This has been a routine for my uncle too which he remembers He also remembers that he should visit the ISKON temple in Juhu followed by his favourite kala khatta gola on the beach which explained the stains on his shirt before coming to our house with gifts What has happened is nothing short of a miracle and the family is grateful that he was found safe and sound after being lost in the city for over 20 hoursrdquo said Vivek His nephews from Nashik took him back on Thursday