This news story appeared in the Hindu Times, Apr 11, 2017. Ham radio operators help unite family in Tamil Nadu Dedicated search by amateur enthusiasts, working with a few facts, ends in joyous reunion A few days after the Gangasagar Mela, the annual religious fair in West Bengal, Ambarish Nag Biswas was told by Kolkata’s health officer about a 25-year-old man admitted in a local government hospital, pining to go home. “When we met him, he could hardly speak. He had head injuries,” said Mr. Biswas, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club (Amateur Club), a group of ham radio enthusiasts. With the help of the interpreter, they found that the man’s name was Dhansekaran, that he was a native of Vellore district, that he had ended up in Kolkata by mistake and had lost all his belongings on a train. Mr. Biswas and his team of ham radio operators took up the task of locating his family. “Dhansekaran was from a place near a Sathyanarayana temple in Vellore district, he was lost in Kolkata, and we had his photo — this was all we had to work with,” says Mr. Biswas. They sent out WhatsApp pictures and videos and requested 37 police personnel in Kolkata to help find his family. Family traced Over a month later, his family was traced. Dhanasekaran was a resident of Sholingur, Vellore. His aged father, a daily wage worker, broke down on hearing his son’s voice over phone. The team then arranged his travel to Kolkata and arranged for their return too. “We were very happy to have finally found our boy,” cried Dhanasekaran’s uncle, who had also gone to Kolkata to bring him home. “He was supposed to go to Gujarat for work but somehow ended up in Kolkata. He has big dreams to help his family.” On Monday morning, Dhanasekaran, his father and his uncle landed in Chennai and headed to their home town. “The idea is to put this radio into best use. Our motive is to unite families, and we will continue doing it,” said Mr. Biswas. source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...s-help-unite-family-in-tn/article17931873.ece
