The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Mentally ill patient reunited with family

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 24, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Mentally ill patient reunited with family

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI, APRIL 23 . A 28-year-old youth, Narendaranath Gupta of Shivpuri in Sindhuwara district of Madhya Pradesh, who was till recently roaming the city streets as mentally ill patient, was reunited with his family here today, at the initiative of Anbalayam, a voluntary organisation.

Narendranath Gupta, who hailed from a poor family of farmers, had left his home in search of a job two years ago. Unable to get any job, he had travelled through various cities, including Bangalore, before reaching Tiruchi. Having exhausted the meagre cash that he had carried, he became a street dweller. The alien environment and language soon took a toll on his mental health.

Afflicted with a fear psychosis, he was seen wandering around the Cantonment police station in Tiruchi. Volunteers of the Anbalayam, who feed the wandering mentally ill everyday, spotted him and started providing him midday meal. Considering his age, he was accommodated at the Anbalayam's Rehabilitation Home for the Mentally Ill at Guntur on the city outskirts.

He was extended medical treatment by Partha Pratim Kundu and Rajni S.Gupta, psychiatrists of the Sowmanasya Hospital.

Narendaranath, who was diagnosed with "unspecified psychosis," responded to the treatment, and was able to communicate better, albeit through an interlocutor, Victor Lazarus, a volunteer. He was soon able to recall his address, and even the contact telephone number, which enabled the Anbalayam to get in touch with his family.

His elder brother, Sriram Gupta, who had almost lost hope of finding his brother, came rushing down to Tiruchi, by bus. It was a tearful reunion for the Gupta brothers, when the younger Gupta was handed over to Mr. Sriram, in the presence of Joseph Irudhayaraj, a faculty member of St. Joseph's College and Dr. Partha Pratim Kundu.

A visibly moved Mr.Sriram Gupta thanked the Anbalayam for having rehabilitated his brother. Back home, Narendaranath's wife and two children, who were subject to mental agony ever since he had left the village, were eagerly awaiting his return.

The founder Secretary of Anbalayam, T.K.S. Senthil Kumar, described the reunion as a milestone for his organisation. He pointed out that his organisation recently launched a web site, www.wanderingmentallyill.org, with the aim of rehabilitating the mentally ill patients wandering in streets, and uniting them with their families. The Anbalayam, he said, planned to establish a network of voluntary organisations working for the cause of mentally ill, and to train a group of volunteers.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Mentally ill patient reunited with family

Varsity to tone up distance education through Internet

Campaign for reading

Training

Eight new courses to be introduced

Around The City

In Tiruchi Today