Community journalism helped track down Lakshman's family
Readers took the initiative to visit Lakshman in hospital and contact his family in Andhra Pradesh to ascertain his real identity
Dubai: Helping someone always feels great. That describes Gulf News reader Srikanth Yadav Geesa's feeling after having helped a man find his identity and, more importantly, his family.
When Gulf News published a report on February 16, on Lakshman, a man who lost his memory after a car accident in November, the reader response was massive.
On seeing the story, 28-year-old Geesa decided to pay Lakshman a visit, who had been in Rashid Hospital since his accident.
Once he understood Lakshman's condition better, Geesa and his friend Ramesh Reddy decided to help. They were helped in the process by Yousuf Abdullah Arif, sent by Firoz Merchant, chairman and founder of Pure Gold Jewellers. "We tried to find out if he had worked with the company he kept mentioning, but we didn't get any information as we didn't have his real name," Reddy told Gulf News.
Srikanth then sent a picture he had taken with Lakshman at the hospital to a newspaper in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, as the man said he was from there.
On February 22, when Telugu newspaper Namasthe Telangaana published the report on Lakshman after Gulf News highlighted his plight, his family knew for sure he was alive.
Meanwhile, another reader, a taxi driver, who had seen the Gulf News report and had known Lakshman previously, also contacted the family after visiting him, on the same day.
Lakshman's son Madhu later called Srikanth confirming that the man was his father and his real name was Neralla Lachaiah.
"They believed he was dead. They sounded so happy when they heard that he was alive and would be coming back," Srikanth said. "I'm so happy I feel like I am flying."
Reddy said community journalism was the best way to give people a chance to make a difference in society. "The Gulf News article is what made everyone try to help, and at the end of the day we got a positive result.
"There are many people who have the money and the resources, but they don't know whom to help. This is where newspapers really prove to be effective."
