Rescued by cobbler, TN girl meets father after 2 decades

​Kodad (Nalgonda): This is a moving story of a kind-hearted cobbler who rescued a mentally unsound girl from Tamil Nadu and gave her a new lease of life by raising her as one of his daughters.

Venkateswarlu, who works on the road beside Surya Lab in the town, found the girl wandering in the vicinity way back in 1997. He took her home with him and moved by her plight, he took her to a hospital in Hyderabad for treatment. The doctors told him that she had lost her mental balance due to a head injury.

It took four long years for her to become normal. Venkateswarlu did not hesitate to spend his meagre earnings to provide medical care to the girl though it was beyond his means. Lauding his humanitarian gesture, some philanthropists extended aid to him. A sum of Rs 3,000 per month was spent on her medicines for years.

Thanks to the untiring care of Venkateswarlu, the girl gradually became normal. She revealed that her name was Amuda and that she hailed from Tirunelveli in Tamil Naidu. Following her revelation, Venkateswarlu took Amuda to Tirunelveli to hand her over to her parents.

But he came to know that Amuda’s mother had died and that her father had left home after the girl went missing. After giving his address to the neighbours, he brought the girl back to Kodad. Later, Amuda revealed that she had an uncle in Mumbai where she had studied for some time.

Determined to hand the girl over to her kin, Venkateswarlu took Amuda to Mumbai. He had even shown the certificates of Amuda who did a ‘teacher training diploma’, to her maternal uncle. Her uncle however expressed his inability to take care of Amuda resulting in Venkateswarlu coming back home to Kodad with Amuda.

When Venkateswarlu approached the then District Collector seeking help in raising the girl, he appointed Amuda as an educational volunteer in a primary school on a contract basis. Since then, Amuda has been living with Venkateswarlu’s family. But she has been on continuous medication, which costs a few thousands of rupees every month.

In the meantime, Amuda’s father Narayana Nadar returned to Tirunelveli and on being informed by his neighbours that Amuda was safe with Venkateswarlu, he came to Kodad. His joy knew no bounds on meeting Amuda.

He revealed that Amuda was married to a man hailing from Coimbatore at a young age. She had slipped and fallen in the bathroom while pregnant resulting in a serious head injury due to which she lost her sanity. Later, she delivered a male child who did not survive.

After that, she went missing. They made an unfruitful search for her everywhere, said Amuda’s father. Expressing his happiness on finding his daughter after nearly two decades, Nadar said he would not take the girl along with him to Tirunelveli. Speaking to The Hans India, he said: “I will leave it to Amuda's choice. I will visit Kodad regularly to see my daughter.”

By: Purna Chander Rao