Tattooed contact No on hand helps youth unite with family

TALE OF TWO CITY REUNIONS

A 21-year-old mentally challenged youth was rescued from Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar (GTBN) station after he apparently played truant from school on Tuesday morning. The ticket checker (TC) contacted his father because of the family's contact number tattooed on the youth's hand.

The student, Shiva Malayam, a resident of Kurla, is mentally challenged and studies in a school for differently-abled in Cotton Green. “On Tuesday, he flung his bag and fled from the school van. Later, I got a call from the GTBN railway station that he had been found,” said his father, Venkanna Malayam.

As Shiva frequently forgets things and has run away from school and home before, Venkana had his phone number tattooed on his son's hand so that in an emergency, people could contact him. “From the movie Ghajini, I got the idea of getting my phone number tattooed on his hand, so people can contact me if they find him. He has had the tattoo for five years now,” Venkana said.

Senior railway officials said TC Dhananya Yadav saw Shiva sitting in a corner of the platform, clad in a school uniform with his shirt buttons undone, so he approached him. “He seemed very uneasy. When I approached him, he was agitated. A few passengers calmed him down and helped bring him to my cabin,” said Yadav.

Yadav then asked a female railway official to speak to Shiva. “One of the passengers spoke to the youth in Malayalam and learned his name. Shiva then pointed to the tattoo on his hand and we called the number, which turned out to be his father's contact number. Shortly after, Shiva was reunited with his family,” added Yadav.