Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, May 12: A man who fell down after suffering from giddiness on the road has seen his life transforming. The man has returned to his native village after a gap of 26 years, but his parents sadly died just three months back. Shivappa is sad that he could have met his parents if he had come back a little earlier.

Because of the lockdown, the man in question, Shivappa, has come back home after 26 years. When he was 18, Shivappa, unable to cope with the abject poverty of the family, had left his hometown, leaving behind parents, brothers and sisters. He has joined them back. He had become sick and was lying on the ground in a bus stand from where the people brought him to his village.

Shivappa Poojary is from Belalu in Ujire, Beltangady taluk. He is the son of the late Koragappa Poojary of Odiprottu House, Belal. After running away from home, he had worked in Mangaluru for two years and was in contact with family. Later, he left Mangaluru and his close ones who searched for him, could not find his whereabouts.

Shivappa says he went to Tarikere and Mysuru. He married a lady, Meenakshi, from Tarikere and settled down in Mysuru. He has a son and a daughter. He led a happy life but could not muster enough courage to come back to his native. Because of lockdown, he had to come to coastal region recently. He became sick and fell down at Maripalla bus stand, in Bantwal.

The locals looked after him and shared his photo on WhatsApp. His brothers identified him as their elder brother, Shivappa Poojary. They went to Maripalla and brought Shivappa back home.

Shivappa has three brothers and two sisters. He currently lives with the families of his brothers in the old house. Shivappa keeps lamenting that he should have come here three months back as he could have met his parents. Shivappa, now 44, has decided to spend the rest of his life here.