Mangaluru: A scientist, who used to teach science to school students was found in a soul-stirring state at Kankanady, Mangaluru.
Rajesh Narayan Agale, a resident of Aurangabad in Maharashtra once adorned the post of Director of ‘Mission Avishkar’, a programme introduced to inculcate scientific temperament among students.
But, with unfortunate turn of events, last May, Agale lost his laptop, a treasure which stored all his work on research.
When all his efforts to regain his lost mobile failed, he lost himself.
The only thing that the world now knows about Agale is that he was found in a distraught state in Kankanady by Snehalaya, a body that been rescuing people in such state from streets of Mangaluru and nearby areas.
Today, Agale may be one of many names lost in the dune of time, but his profile talks for himself and his glorious past.
After completing his M Sc in Electronics, he was appointed as Director of Mission Avishkar. He worked closely with some of the reputed scientists of the country including former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
But all this ended very fast for Agale.
However, fortunately, a phone call from an unknown caller to Snehalaya Trust Founder Joseph Crasta came as a silver lining for Agale, who was living in pathetic state in Kankanady.
What went on after the loss of laptop is something that nobody knows- not even Agale himself, but the incident had a devastating impact on the young scientist.
“One day I got q call and some one intimate me that a young man who evidently looks disturbed has been sleeping under a tree near Kankanady. We rushed and got him admitted to Yenepoya Hospital,” recalled Crasta speaking to newskarnataka.com.
After two months of treatment and counselling, Agale eventually opened up and informed about his identity- his tryst with Mission Avishkar and his association with the Missile Man of India.
“He then gave me his address, which we verified. All of the details that he gave us were true. He has two brothers and two sisters,” said Crasta adding that his family sent across his pictures with Dr Kalam and various letters written to him by the President’s office.
Crasta says that loss of laptop sparked a sense of dejection in the man and that happens to be the last episode that he remembers. He has no clue on how he reached Mangaluru.
“At times, he also speaks of how he was deceived so that someone else could take over the position of Director in Mission Avishkar,” says Crasta.
Agale, who went missing in 2014 has finally reconciled with his family, thanks to Snehalaya- a home which was established in 2009 by Joseph Crasta.
Snehalaya has brought back smiles and hopes in lives of many who have been out on streets suffering from mental disorders.
