Dubai: When an elderly Punjab pilgrim who struggled with memory lost his way in Amritsar and somehow ended up more than 1,200km away in Bihar, he had little to help him find his way home.
At some point during the pilgrimage, Chaman Lal became separated from his group and wandered towards Amritsar railway station.
After seeing Chaman Lal alone and in distress, he felt he could not simply walk away.
But it was a stranger’s persistence — first taking Chaman Lal into his home, then searching for three days and finally accompanying him on the long journey across India — that completed it.
A Senior Associate Editor with more than 30 years in the media, Stephen N.R.
Dubai: When an elderly Punjab pilgrim who struggled with memory lost his way in Amritsar and somehow ended up more than 1,200km away in Bihar, he had little to help him find his way home.
He could barely explain where he came from. He spoke only Punjabi. But he remembered one crucial detail — the name of his village.
At some point during the pilgrimage, Chaman Lal became separated from his group and wandered towards Amritsar railway station. He then boarded a train and travelled hundreds of kilometres in the wrong direction, eventually reaching Gaya in Bihar.
The elderly man appeared distressed and hungry and was unable to properly explain who he was or how he had arrived in Gaya.
For the next four days, Neeraj and his family gave him food and shelter while trying to work out where he belonged, according to NDTV.
He turned to ChatGPT as well as general internet searches, trying to establish where Fatehgarh Gujran was and whether it could lead him to Chaman Lal’s family.
Sukhchain said relatives and villagers had looked for Chaman Lal in Amritsar, informed police and circulated his photograph on social media in the hope that somebody might recognise him.
After seeing Chaman Lal alone and in distress, he felt he could not simply walk away. Once he had the village name to work with, he was determined to find where the elderly man belonged.
But it was a stranger’s persistence — first taking Chaman Lal into his home, then searching for three days and finally accompanying him on the long journey across India — that completed it.
A Senior Associate Editor with more than 30 years in the media, Stephen N.R. curates, edits and publishes impactful stories for Gulf News — both in print and online — focusing on Middle East politics, student issues and explainers on global topics. Stephen has spent most of his career in journalism, working behind the scenes — shaping headlines, editing copy and putting together newspaper pages with precision. For the past many years, he has brought that same dedication to the Gulf News digital team, where he curates stories, crafts explainers and helps keep both the web and print editions sharp and engaging.
