Agra's Rip Van Winkle wakes up to 21st century
AGRA. Four decades of his life were spent in the shadow of schizophrenia. This is the story of 85-year-old Raghuvanshi, first a teacher, then a police officer, and now a cook at the AgraMental Asylum.
This modern Rip Van Winkle's life has a perplexing blank of 43 years of which he remembers nothing, clueless how and
Suffering from schizophrenia since 1962, Raghuvanshi is shocked to see how the world has changed in these interim years. He does not know India has fought four wars in this period, nor is he aware that Jawahar Lal Nehru is no longer India's Prime Minister.
Having spent 38 years as a schizophrenic patient at the Institute of Mental Health here, Raghuvanshi recalled nothing of his earlier life, treating the 600-odd patients at the asylum as his family. One day, however, in the course of
his treatment, he suddenly remembered he had a family of his own.
It was only after the cloud of schizophrenia completely lifted a couple of years ago that Raghuvanshi began to remember his past life and told the doctors about his real identity and address. Acting on this information, the Agra Mental Asyulm authorities, a few weeks ago, tracked down Raghuvanshi's family in Etawah district's Bharthana area, a family which had lost all hope of meeting him ever again.
According to Jaikishan, Raghuvanshi's nephew and adopted son, who has applied to the Agra district court for his father's custody, originally an exceptionally bright Government school teacher in Etawah who lost his wife and all four children at an early age, Raghuvanshi adopted Jai as his son when he was still in his teens.
He said soon after the adoption, Raghuvanshi cleared the test for the post of a subinspector in UP police. Unfortunately, immediately after, he lost his mental balance and was forced to remain confined to the family home from where he escaped after beating up his father back in 1962. From that day on, the family lost track of Raghuvanshi although efforts to find him continued for many years. Finally, the familiy gave up.
Picking up the threads from here, Dr Sudhir Kumar, Director, Institute of Mental Health said Raghuvanshi arrived at the Agra Mental Asylum in 1967 after being transferred as a prisoner from the Urai jail in UP's Jaloun district. How he ended up in the jail and for what crime, is still unknown as the Urai jail authorties claim the jail records have been destroyed in floods.
Raghuvanshi did not remember anything about these 40 years of his life and was spending his life working at the Institute's kitchen, when suddenly his memory started returning and he began recalling his life and the family he had left behind in the village.
Dr Kumar said the extent of the return of his memory could be judged from the fact that he recognised Jaikishan only after a moment's hesitation and was ready to leave with him although a bit reluctant to part with the asylum patients and doctors whom he has known as his family for the past 40 years.
Jaikishan, a retired Government employee, lives in Sitapur near Lucknow and wants to take Raghuvanshi with him but the final decision of custody can only be decided by the Agra court as another nephew has also claimed for Raghuvanshi's custody in court.
Dr Kumar said if the court does not decide in either party's favour, Raghuvanshi would be shifted from the Institute's hospital and be allowed to live in a "Half Way Home" for the rest of his life, under the supervision and care of the asylum staff, a family that took care of Raghuvanshi during the most difficult period of his life.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)
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