Mumbai cop reunites with long lost parents after 24 years, thanks to a tattoo

Itrsquos a story straight out of a Manmohan Desai film in the 70s and 80s a story of separation and reunion Only this time itrsquos for real The protagonist is Ganesh Raghunath Dhangade a constable in the Mumbai police force Mere paas maa haiI Ganesh seen here with his mother and siblings shows the tattoo of his motherrsquos name lsquoMandarsquo that helped him tracku00a0his family downu00a0PicSameer Markande It all happened in 1989 when Dhangade boarded a train with his friends and got lost because it was too crowded He was only six years old and was unable to go back He was on the streets of the city alone and nobody to care for him ldquoI cleaned platforms and ate at dargahs and Ganesh mandals I met a fisherman who took me home I used to play with his son Sainath They used to make me beg on local trains and give me food in exchange for the moneyrdquo he recalls One day he was hit by a train at CST He was admitted to a hospital where he lay in coma for several months Since no one could trace his family he was handed over to an orphanage in Worli Dhangade went to Anand Ashram in Worli where workers took care of him fed him and educated him He studied there till Std VII and later shifted to an orphanage in Thane where he studied till Std X He then joined Sanket Vidyalaya and Junior College in Thane and studied till Std XII He was physically fit and an athlete ndash he had participated in several statelevel and nationallevel games His education was funded by Krida Prabodhini a staterun programme to encourage talented sportsmen He then took the police exams cleared the written physical and medical tests and joined the Quick Response Team QRT of the Mumbai Police as a constable in 2011 Wherersquos your family On July 23 2011 when seniors were taking introductions from the fresh recruits Dhangade could only tell them his name Police Inspector Shrikhant Sonde asked him his family background ldquoWhen everybody was introducing himself to me one constable only told me his name Ganesh Raghunath Dhangade He could not give me any other introduction about his family When I inquired further he told me had been separated from his parents at the age of sixrdquo said Sonde Dhangade only knew his motherrsquos name Manda R Dhangade which had been tattooed on his arm When he saw parents of other recruits attending inhouse functions it made him miss his parents He approached his seniors to help him trace his family and they assured him that they would do all they could to help him They asked him to check on missing records in police stations The search begins Dhangade asked his friends to help out ldquoI along with one of my fellow recruit and friend Sumit Gandhavale started checking the missing bureau records online and in police stations turn by turnrdquo he says while talking to MiD DAY The duo also started a campaign on Facebook and Orkut and contacted everyone with the same surname as Dhangade but couldnrsquot get any leads ldquoOne day I went to the Worli orphange where I had stayed I met the old mess worker Shamsuddhin Abdul Shaikh and asked him about my pastrdquo said Dhangade Dhangade found out that he had enrolled in the Anand Orphange saying that he hailed from the Mamu Bhanja Dargah area The duo roamed around Mumbai looking for a dargah with the same name After two months they finally got their first clue ndash the dargah was at Lokmanya Nagar Thane W Reunion On October 4 they reached the Mamu Bhanja dargah in Thane and asked locals about his mother Manda whose name had been tattooed on his hand They came to know that an old lady by the same name lived on a hill nearby Dhangade along with his colleagues immediately reached the place where they found an old lady performing shraddh afterdeath rituals ldquoWe asked her if she had lost her child 20 years ago and she replied in the positive We asked if the child had any identification marks on his body and she told us about the tattoo on the arms Thatrsquos when I showed it to herrdquo narrates a tearful Dhangade ldquoIt was a beautiful moment Both were in tears For several minutes they said nothing They just cried but the tears said it allrdquo says Gandhavale the colleague who helped him all this while Itrsquos all coming back ldquoMy mother told me that I had gone to the Thane Municipal school at Wagle Estate where I met my friend Ganesh Kharavi He was going to his unclersquos place and asked me to tag along So we boarded a train but somehow I got lost in the crowdrdquo explains the elated constable He is extremely grateful to his seniors and collegues ldquoThis reunion would not have been possible without the guidance of my seniors especially Mr Sonde who told me how to go about the search He is happy that he can care for his old mother who earns by doing house chores and his two younger brothers and a sisteru00a0 Scene 1 Boy gets lost lives on the cityrsquos streets Itrsquos a scene set in 1989 Sixyearold Ganesh boards a train along with his friends It is too crowded and he gets lostThe boy too is unable to go back as he is too young He roams around on the streets of Mumbai eating at temples Ganesh mandals and dargahs He begs cleans and sweeps ndash whatever it takes to fill his stomach A fisherman takes him home and makes him beg in the local trains in exchange for food Scene 2 Train accident coma and over to an orphanage One day at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus CST Dhangade gets hit by a train He ends up at a hospital and is in a coma for several months Hospital authorities arenrsquot able to find his family or relatives and no one comes to meet him He is handed overto the Anand Ashram an orphanage in Worli where he starts his education He studies at the Worli orphanage till Std VII and is then shifted to an orphanage in Thane where he studies till Std X Scene 3 Boy joins police force The boy joins Sanket Vidyalaya and Junior College in Thane He then takes the police department test and passes He clears the medical and physical test and joins the force in 2011 When seniors ask him about his family he has no answers except for his motherrsquos name Manda R Dhangade which is tattooed on his right arm He starts searching for them Arms and the men Ganesh with his family Every child in the family has a tattoo on their arm and it39s this very tattoo that helped in reuniting mother and son PicSameer Markande Scene 4 The search begins Ganesh and a friend start searching for people with the same surname on social networking sites He goes back to the Worli orphanage and meets the mess worker who tells him the registered address in the orphanage books which is in Thane Scene 5 Reunion at Thane The constable and his friend look around for families with the surname Dhangade He asks locals about Manda his mother He finds out that an old lady with the same name lives nearby Ganesh goes to the old lady and shows her his tattoo A teary reunion ensuesu00a0 lsquoWe will finally celebrate Diwalirsquo Manda Dhangadersquos happiness knew no bounds when she got her son back after 24 years ldquoI had lost all hope We never celebrated a single festival since the day he went missing but this Diwali we will have a grand celebrationrdquo said Manda Manda who works as maid had tattoos made on each of her children at the age of one After Ganesh went missing she went to several police stations in Thane and Bhiwandi She even went to Children homes but she failed to find her son She added ldquoEvery time I visited the police station I hoped to find some clues but I never got any leads There is not a single place in Thane and Bhiwandi that I had not searchedrdquo After 10 years of searching for her son she lost all hope Manda didnrsquot recognise her son when he entered ldquoWhen he showed me his tattoo I was shocked All I did was hug and kiss himrdquou00a0She now spends every single moment of the day with her son Her first priority is celebrate a grand Diwali and then to get her son married to a lsquonice girlrsquo ldquoOne should never let their child out of onersquos sight Donrsquot be careless while handling children otherwise yoursquoll have to suffer like me I was lucky and Irsquom proud that he is in police forcerdquo she signs off joyouslyu00a0 We had not celebrated a single festival since he went missing But this year we will celebrate Diwali in a grand way mdash Ganeshrsquos mother Manda