Jharsuguda: The Mahanadi may be a subject of discord between Odisha and Chhattisgarh but here is a story of a girl from Chhattisgarh who was swept away in the river and rescued in Odisha five years later.
Soni Yadav’s life story has all the ingredients that will make for any box office hit.
Here’s her story.
It was September 14, 2016. Sanyasi Kalo, a fisherman of Kushmel village in Jharsuguda district, set out on his boat in Mahanadi for fishing. While fishing in the river, he spotted something that resembled a human body floating in the water close to the river bank. Out of curiosity, he paddled to the spot only to find a girl floating unconsciously.
He immediately took her back to the shore and rushed her to a nearby hospital where the doctors said she was out of danger.
Following treatment, she regained her conscious and narrated how she was swept away in the river and all the details about her family.
After losing her parents, she was staying with her aunt at Jebara village under Saranggarh police limits in Raigarh district.
One day, she along with her family members had come to Chandrahasini Devi temple on the bank of Mahanadi for a visit. While washing her feet, she slipped and was washed away.
She said she did not know what had happened then. Her unconscious body travelled for about 50 kilometers in the river and finally got stuck at the shore near Kushmel village.
After her treatment, Sanyasi brought her to his house. It was when they asked her about her address so that they could reunite her with her family, she refused to go back to her aunt and expressed her wish to stay with them.
As time passed by, Sony’s foster parents thought about her marriage. They have chosen a groom for her from Dharamgarh village in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district. Her wedding has been scheduled for April 21.
As Soni is returning to her own state, as a bride, Sanyasi, his wife and other family members are a happy lot.
But, for Sony, it is a moment for both happiness and despair. While she is going to get her life partner, at the same time she is once again getting separated from her parents.
PNN