Chandigarh: An elderly man from Punjab ended up hundreds of kilometres from home after losing his way during a pilgrimage, and it took a stranger's persistence and a bit of ChatGPT searching to bring him back.
Chaman Lal, from Fatehgarh Gujran village in Ludhiana district, had travelled to Amritsar on September 11 to visit Sri Harmandir Sahib under the Punjab government's Chief Minister Pilgrimage Scheme. His family says he has long struggled with memory-related issues.
Somewhere in Amritsar, he wandered away from his group and ended up near the railway station.
From there, he boarded a train heading to Bihar and travelled all the way to Gaya, more than 1,200 kilometres from home.
It was there that Neeraj, a Gaya local, first noticed him.
Chaman Lal looked distressed and hungry, and could barely explain who he was or where he had come from.
The only detail he could offer was the name of his village -- Fatehgarh Gujran.
Neeraj took him home. He fed him, sheltered him, and let him stay with his family for the next four days while he tried to work out where the old man belonged.
Chaman Lal spoke only Punjabi, which gave Neeraj his first clue. Using the village name as a starting point, he began searching online, turning to ChatGPT and general internet searches to try to trace it back to a place in Punjab.
The search took three days. Eventually, he found a village called Fatehgarh Gujran, near Machhiwara Sahib in Ludhiana district.
Once he had a location, Neeraj personally accompanied Chaman Lal on the long journey from Gaya to Ludhiana, and then onward to Machhiwara, rather than sending him back alone.
In Machhiwara, Neeraj began showing Chaman Lal's photograph to locals, hoping someone would recognise him.
That's when Master Krishan Lal, a resident of the area, identified the elderly man.
Word reached the family quickly. Chaman Lal's grandson, Sukhchain Singh, rushed to Machhiwara and confirmed it was indeed his grandfather.
Sukhchain Singh said the family had searched extensively for Chaman Lal in Amritsar and had also alerted the police.
Villagers and relatives had shared his photograph on social media, hoping someone somewhere would spot him.
He expressed deep gratitude to Neeraj for keeping his grandfather safe, travelling all the way from Gaya to Punjab, and making sure he reached home safely.
Chaman Lal's family later welcomed Neeraj into their home with garlands and offered him money and clothes.
Neeraj, who works in the construction sector in Gaya, said he couldn't walk past an elderly man in distress.
Once he learned the village name, he said, finding the family became something he felt personally responsible for.
