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A Himachal Man Missing for 45 Years Returns Home After Head Injury Restores His Memory
A Himachal Pradesh man who disappeared in 1980 returned home after a recent head injury restored his lost memory. After decades living under a new identity, his emotional homecoming stunned his village and reunited him with family who had presumed him dead.
A man from Himachal Pradesh who vanished 45 years ago has returned home after a head injury unexpectedly restored his lost memory — a homecoming his village is celebrating as nothing short of a miracle.
Rikhi Ram, who has lived for decades under the name Ravi Chaudhary, arrived in his native Nadi village in Nahan on 15 November, accompanied by his wife and three children.
In 1980, 16-year-old Rikhi had left his village in search of work and eventually found a job at a hotel in Yamunanagar. But on a trip to Ambala, he suffered a severe head injury in a road accident that wiped out every trace of his past — including his own name. Co-workers in Haryana began calling him Ravi Chaudhary, a name that gradually became his new identity. With no memory of home, Rikhi rebuilt his life from scratch.
He later moved to Dadar in Mumbai, taking up small jobs to get by. Eventually he settled in Nanded, Maharashtra, where a college hired him. In 1994, he married Santoshi, and together they raised two daughters and a son. By all accounts, his life was steady and content.
Then came 2025. A minor accident a few months ago triggered a flood of unfamiliar dreams: a mango tree, a village swing, a narrow trail in Sataun, the courtyard of a house he hadn’t seen in decades. He first dismissed them, but the images grew more vivid — until he realized they were not dreams but memories.
Because he had little formal education, he turned to a college student for help. Together, they searched Google for Nadi village and Sataun. A phone number for a local café in Sataun led them to Rudra Prakash, a resident of Nadi. Final confirmation came during a call with a relative, M.K. Chaube, who recognized fragments of Rikhi’s past that only the real Rikhi Ram could recall.
When he returned on 15 November, the village erupted in celebration. Drums echoed through the lanes, garlands swayed in the air, and neighbors poured in to welcome him. Emotions overwhelmed the gathering as Rikhi’s siblings — Durga Ram, Chandra Mohan, Chandramani, Kaushalya Devi, Kala Devi, and Sumitra Devi — embraced him through tears. The boy they had presumed dead walked back through their door.
His younger brother Durga Ram, struggling to speak through his tears, said, “We believed he had left this world long ago. Seeing him stand before us after 45 years feels like witnessing another birth. It is nothing short of a miracle.”
There is another twist to his story. Until age 16, Rikhi was raised in a Brahmin family. But after losing his memory in Haryana, unaware of his background, his new companions gave him a Rajput identity and the name Ravi Chaudhary. He spent his entire adult life within that community’s culture and traditions. Now, with his memory restored, he has reclaimed his original identity and returned to his village as a Brahmin, reconnecting with the roots he never meant to leave behind.
