After a message went viral on Whatsapp, a lost man is finally found after 20 years

Whatsapp has been a sensational hit ever since its inception. It has reached out to all snippets of the world with over 1 billion active people using the messenger every month. Whatsapp hits more than 200 million active users in India quite recently and it is obvious that the numbers will go skyrocketing in the days to come.

There is an increasing proof that whatever we share information online ends up causing a huge upset to people in real life. The social media application- Whatsapp came under fire in the past couple of months as people were lynched to death over WhatsApp-based rumours.

Credits: IndiaTimes

On the contrary, there are many other interesting stories where people got hugely benefited due to Whatsapp. In a fortunate incident, a father was finally reunited with his family after 20 years and thanks to a WhatsApp message that spread like wildfire. This goes to show the power of social media.

Times of India reported that a 48-year-old man from Rajasthan identified as Mahaveer Singh Chouhan left his home in December 1998 when two of his sons were young. Pradyuman was four years old at that time when he last saw his father whereas his younger brother Raghupal was just one year old.

veer used to run a daily business in Mumbai but he ran through huge losses in it. He didn’t return to his home. His father, Ganpat Singh Chauhan, and family members registered a complaint and then started to look for him, but they gave up after five years of a search operation.

After abandoning home, the 48-year-old man reached Bengaluru where he had been living there for 2 decades. He then worked at a rose farm in Doddaballapura where he was found ‘lying unconscious’ on Saturday.

Mahaveer’s friends Ravi and Kishore Kumar Daftary were then taken to the hospital when the doctors referred his case to Nimhans as doctors reckoned that he had a spinal injury. Kishore who belongs to Rajasthan works as a photographer in Bengaluru. He said that Mahaveer rarely spoke about his family.

As his situation went from bad to worse, his friends decided to reach out to his family. They also clicked a picture of Mahaveer and started circulating it in Rajasthan WhatsApp groups.

The message was circulated at about 4 pm on Saturday. His driving license turned out to be evidence in the identification process. Kishore was loaded with calls and messages when Pradyuman on the other side of the phone brought a smile on Mahaveer’s face where countless emotions poured.

At 11 am Sunday, when Pradyuman touched his father’s feet, it was a touching moment for many. Mahaveer, in tears, told his son, “I’m free of all my guilt today; take me back to the land where I belong.” TOI reported.

“It’s unbelievable. We thought we had lost him. Destiny works in mysterious ways. My mother always believed he will come back one day.” Pradyuman was quoted as saying.

Hailing from Chennai, Chaithanya G is the Managing Director of TheYouth. He has dedicated his whole life to reading and writing.